In February 2020, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that Belgium planned to repatriate all children under 10 years of age from the camps without their mothers so long as the mothers agreed to the repatriation. 3 In November 2020, the Belgian Government said to RSI that it had attempted to repatriate all children with proven Belgian identity from the camps, however, these attempts had so far failed as ‘the children have turned out to be inseparable from their mothers, for reasons that totally escape the control of the Belgian authorities’.4 Repatriation practice In June 2019, five children and an 18-year-old Belgian woman were repatriated from Ain Issa camp to Belgium.5 The children were mostly over ten years old and were orphans or isolated children. The woman had been abducted and taken to Syria as a child and had turned 18 shortly before the repatriation took place.6 FRANCE Estimated number of women and children in the camps It is estimated that there are around 250 French children and 80 French women detained in al Hol and Roj camps.7 Government policy on repatriation RSI understands that the French Government’s policy is to assess children based on a set of factors, such as the extent of their isolation and age, in order to determine whether to repatriate them. Priority has been given to the repatriation of young orphans. The French Government has been silent on its plans in respect of teenage children. RSI understands that France actively seeks to return children without their mothers with their mothers’ consent. RSI’s research indicates that in October 2018, French officials travelled directly to Roj camp to meet with several French women and asked them whether they would consent to their children being repatriated without them. It is understood that very few women consented to this course of action. RSI contacted the French Government to request clarification of its repatriation policy position, however, it was unable to do so within the timeframe provided. Repatriation practice France have repatriated at least 28 young children from the camps, including five in March 2019, 12 in June 2019, one in April 2020 and ten in July 2020.8 All were young children, the majority below six years old. Prior to 2020 most of those repatriated were orphans. RSI understands that in April 2020, one child, who was gravely ill with a congenital heart defect, was repatriated from al Hol following a concerted advocacy effort on her behalf in France. Following her 59 RIGHTS & SECURITY INTERNATIONAL