70 QIL 60 (2019) 69-97 ZOOM IN children, many of whom are detained on national security-related charges for their alleged association with ISIS.3 So far the States most affected by the current situation − including European States − have adopted heterogeneous and even contradictory strategies in relation to the repatriation of FTFs, without ever facing the question of whether they are acting, or not, according to international law. Most States immediately declared their intention to leave FTFs and their family members where they are so that they can face justice locally.4 In spite of the preponderant view, countries like Russia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan and Indonesia, have proactively sought the repatriation of women and children, the former for security reasons and the latter due to humanitarian concerns.5 Those efforts, which have been hailed as ‘humanitarian initiatives’ meant to safeguard ‘the rights of vulnerable children and their mothers’,6 risk being belittled if read merely as gestures of goodwill rather than as actions taken in full compliance with the existing international legal framework. Since the focus of the present article is on the situation of children, and to the extent to which their destinies are entwined also women, affiliated with ISIS, the term ‘family members of FTFs’7 will be used. This work will not delve into the situation of FTFs − which deserves separate analysis − nonetheless, it is worth stressing that some of the issues analysed in this article, for example in relation to the 3 ‘Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict’ UN Doc A/HRC/40/49 (26 December 2018) para 18. According to the Report ‘… as ISIL lost control over most of the territory it had previously held in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, 1,200 children of different foreign nationalities were being held at Rusafa prison in Baghdad’. 4 R Kennedy, ‘What is Europe's Approach to Repatriating ISIS Members?’ Euronews (7 March 2019) <www.euronews.com/2019/03/07/what-is-europe-s-approach-torepatriating-isis-members-euronews-answers>. 5 A Roth, ‘“We aren't dangerous”: Why Chechnya Has Welcomed Women Who Joined ISIS’ The Guardian (2 March 2019) <www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ mar/02/we-arent-dangerous-why-chechnya-has-welcomed-women-who-joined-isis>. 6 ‘Repatriation of Extremist Fighters and Families to Kazakhstan, Welcomed by UN Rights Expert (Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism)’ UN News (17 May 2019) <https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038711>. 7 Notably, whereas most documents on the topic adhere to this terminological choice, others refer to foreign fighters and their families. See ‘Guidance note for National Societies on sharing information related to FFF cases with authorities in European countries in the context of RFL activities’ ICRC Paris Regional Delegation (July 2018) 1.