144 C. SANDELOWSKY-BOSMAN AND T. LIEFAARD the restrictive interpretation of the concept of jurisdiction and by clarifying the substantive obligations for states parties to the UNCRC, it aims to contribute towards appropriate protection for these children, who have generally not chosen to live in former ISIS conflict zones and who find themselves in a vacuum with no government helping them. 2. Children with Ties to the Netherlands: Numbers, Circumstances and Nationality 2.1. The Number of children with ties to the Netherlands residing in Syria, Iraq and Turkey The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) estimates that there are at least 210 children located in Syria and Turkey who have ties to the Netherlands.18 There may also be children with ties to the Netherlands residing in Iraq.19 According to the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV), one or both parents of these children have Dutch citizenship or resided for a long period in the Netherlands.20 The actual number of children is likely to be higher, since the Dutch authorities are not immediately aware of such children who were born abroad.21 This is not a homogenous group: some of the children are still with one or both parents, others are not;22 Fewer than one quarter were taken to the conflict zone by one or both parents; more than three quarters were born there;23 more than half the group are very young (four years or younger) and only 10% are nine years or older.24 2.2. The situation of children with ties to the Netherlands Children staying in refugee camps are apparently not free to leave the camps,25 which prevents them from returning to the Netherlands. This has a tremendous impact on their lives. Children who were taken from the Netherlands have difficulty adjusting to their new living environment. They have experienced many stressful situations such as bombings, death and destruction.26 Soldiers of the Syrian army have been accused of killing and torturing children, and of sexual abuse.27 Two Dutch children have already died in Syrian 18 AIVD (n 2). NCTV (n 2). NCTV (n 2). 21 AIVD (n 2). 22 Parliamentary Documents II 2018–19, 29754, 499. 23 NCTV (n 2). See also The Child Justice Advocacy Group (n 11); Letta Tayler, ‘Fear Grips Women and Children Trapped in Syria Camps’ (Human Rights Watch, 18 October 2019) <www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/18/fear-grips-women-and-childrentrapped-syria-camps> accessed 27 May 2020. 24 NCTV and AIVD, Minderjarigen bij ISIS (2017) <https://www.aivd.nl/onderwerpen/terrorisme/documenten/publicaties/ 2017/04/06/minderjarigen-bij-isis-van-nctv-en-aivd> accessed 20 August 2020; AIVD, ‘Uitreizigers en terugkeerders. Hoeveel Nederlanders zijn uitgereisd naar een jihadistisch strijdgebied?’ <www.aivd.nl/onderwerpen/terrorisme/ dreiging/uitreizigers-en-terugkeerders> accessed 20 August 2020. 25 Hans Ulrich Jessurun D’Oliveira, ‘Nederlandse kalifaatkinderen aan hun lot overlaten? Nee toch!’ NJB (2018) 10; Vivian Yee, ‘Thousands of ISIS Children Suffer in Camps as Countries Grapple With Their Fate’ The New York Times (8 May 2019); Edwin Bakker, Jessica Sciarone and Jeanine de Roy van Zuidewijn, ‘Terugkeerders uit jihadistische strijdgebieden. Een vergelijking tussen Nederland, België, Denemarken, Duitsland, Frankrijk, het VK en de VS’ (Leiden University 2019) 16. 26 NCTV and AIVD (n 24) 9; Noman Benotman and Nikita Malik, The Children of Islamic State (Quilliam 2016) 46. 27 Benotman and Malik 2016 (n 26) 46; Dutch Children’s Ombudswoman 2019 (n 11). 19 20