The children (and wives) of foreign ISIS fighters 77 could represent a serious security threat has informed all the decisions made so far by their States of nationality. More in detail, even though most States have declared their intention to consider children – at least those under the age of 10 − as victims rather than perpetrators or potential terrorists,35 in practice only a handful of Governments have proactively sought to bring them back home, alone or alongside their mothers. As international pressure on the matter is mounting, child rights experts insist on the risk of double victimization for the children who, after being abducted, recruited, used and exposed to violence at an early age,36 continue to live in extremely dire conditions, conducive to further abuses and human rights violations.37 The repatriation of women and children is widely regarded as the only viable option to ensure their well-being and at the same time neutralize further security threats.38 The question of whether repatriating the family members of FTFs should be framed as an obligation, rather than as a desirable outcome informed by security and humanitarian considerations, still needs to be examined through the prism of international law. <https://icct.nl/publication/isis-child-soldiers-in-syria-the-structural-and-predatoryrecruitment-enlistment-pre-training-indoctrination-training-and-deployment/>. 35 Belgium, for example, has openly declared its willingness to readmit to its territory only children under the age of 10 (without actively pursuing their repatriation, but by simply allowing relatives to bring them back), and to treat the older ones on a case-bycase basis. T Renard and R Coolsaet, ‘Children in the Levant: Insights from Belgium on the Dilemmas of Repatriation and the Challenges of Reintegration’ Egmont Institute (11 July 2018) 4-5 <www.egmontinstitute.be/content/uploads/2018/07/SPB98-RenardCoolsaet_v2.pdf?type=pdf>. 36 ‘Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict’ (n 3) para 17. 37 ‘Protect the Rights of Children of Foreign Fighters Stranded in Syria and Iraq’ Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore (21 May 2019) <www.unicef.org/press-releases/protect-rights-children-foreign-fighters-stranded-syriaand-iraq>. According to the statement ‘[t]hese children are “doubly rejected” – stigmatized by their communities and shunned by their governments. They face massive legal, logistical and political challenges in accessing basic services or returning to their countries of origin.’ 38 F D Ní Aoláin, ‘Time to Bring Women and Children Home from Iraq and Syria’ Just Security (4 June 2019) <www.justsecurity.org/64402/time-to-bring-women-andchildren-home-from-iraq-and-syria/>.