NORDIC JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS 147 to be protected against unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of liberty and the right to be treated with humanity and respect when deprived of liberty (UNCRC, art 37(b) and (c)) appear to be being violated. In the camps in Syria, apparently very little is done to treat the physical and psychological damage that has resulted from neglect, abuse, torture and other forms of violence (UNCRC, art 39).47 Many other rights are also affected, however, with serious consequences for the children, who are often very young.48 As signatories to the UNCRC, the Netherlands, Syria, Turkey and Iraq are obliged to (i) respect, (ii) protect and (iii) fulfil children’s rights.49 The state in which a child resides is principally responsible for this obligation. After all, that state has the responsibility to realize and implement the rights of children within its territorial jurisdiction. However, as far as Northern Syria is concerned, it is questionable whether it is realistic to expect the Syrian Government to comply with this obligation. It seems to have lost control over the northern part of its territory which is where camp Al-Hol is located.50 In this part of Syria the rights violations seem to be caused by an alliance of non-state actors under leadership of the Kurds, also known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),51 an alliance that resists the authority of the Syrian Government and is not party to human rights treaties. In addition, the Syrian Government may not want to take responsibility for the children concerned, since they may be associated with ISIS. By taking the position that the Dutch Government has no powers or authority in Syria, Iraq, or Turkey, the minister of justice and security appears to assume that the Dutch Government has no enforcement jurisdiction in those countries, and therefore cannot be obliged to take protective measures in relation to children in them with ties to the Netherlands. Enforcement jurisdiction, after all, is in principle strictly territorial and cannot be exercised on the ‘streets’ of other States.52 However, a distinction can be made between UNICEF stepped in to offer psychological support to around 500 children a day in camp Al-Hol: see ‘UNICEF Supports Children’s Wellbeing in Al-Hol through Child-Friendly Spaces’ (UNICEF, 1 August 2019) <www.unicef.org/syria/stories/ unicef-supports-childrens-wellbeing-al-hol-through-child-friendly-spaces> accessed 15 May 2020. The total number of children in camp Al-Hol is estimated at 9,500: Coles(n 16). 48 For example, there are concerns in relation to the right to protection from violence and torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (UNCRC, arts 19 and7(a)). Children with disabilities are entitled to special care, which they do not seem to get (UNCRC, art 23). Other rights at risk of being violated include: the right to the highest attainable standard of health (UNCRC, art 24), to an adequate standard of living (UNCRC, art 27), to education (UNCRC, arts 28 and 29), to play (UNCRC, art 31) and to be protected from economic and sexual exploitation and trafficking (UNCRC, arts 32, 34 and 35); see also the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography). See further also UNCRC, art 38 and Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, art 4(1) and (2) (the Netherlands ratified this Protocol on 24 September 2009). 49 CRC Committee, General Comment No 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realisation of children’s rights (art 4), 27. The obligation to respect, protect and fulfil is incorporated in the broader field of human rights: Vassilis P Tzevelekos and Elena Katselli Proukaki, ‘Migrants at Sea: A Duty of Plural States to Protect (Extraterritorially)?’ (2017) 86 Nordic Journal of International Law 427. 50 In the Northern part of Syria, pro-Turkish militias are fighting the Syrian Democratic Forces, the United States of America, the Syrian army, pro-‘Assad’ militias and the Russian army. Besides, there are individual ISIS-combatants carrying out terror attacks: see Harald Doornbos, ‘IS-vrouwen en -kinderen ophalen wordt nog een hele toer’ Het Parool (Amsterdam, 16 November 2019). 51 The SDF is an alliance between different Kurdish and Arab militias that has been fighting against ISIS. The leadership of the SDF is in the hands of the YPG, which is the armed branch of the Kurdish Party PYD which has ties to the PKK: Parliamentary Documents II, 2018–19, 29754, 254. The SDF seem to control the custody of the children in the camps: see Tayler (n 23). 52 René Lefeber and Olivier Ribbelink, ‘Jurisdictie’ in Natalie Horbach, René Lefeber and Olivier Ribbelink (eds), Handboek Internationaal Recht (TMC Asser Press 2007) 10. See also Samantha Besson, ‘The Extraterritoriality of the European Convention on Human Rights: Why Human Rights Depend on Jurisdiction and What Jurisdiction Amounts To’ (2012) 25 Leiden Journal of International Law 857. 47