France announces large-scale repatriation mission of 10 ISIS family members

On July 04, 2023, the French government formally announced the repatriation of 10 women and 25 children who are all family members of ISIS fighters and affiliates. All individuals had been previously held in camps in Northeastern Syria which are struggling with increasing crime rates and overcrowding.

Pursuant to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs “the minors were handed over to the services in charge of child assistance and will be further subjected to medical and social monitoring”. The adults on the other hand were reportedly submitted to “competent judicial authorities”. The French Foreign Ministry subsequently expressed its gratitude towards ANNES for the joint cooperation in repatriating French citizens.

In fact, France had launched its first ever collective repatriation operation in July 2022 since the military defeat of the ISIS terrorist group in the battle of Baghouz in 2019. During this operation, in total, 35 children and 16 women were repatriated to France, followed by a mission were a batch of 15 women and 40 children were submitted to French authorities.

However, thousands of foreigners, related or married to ISIS fighters, from 60 different countries are still languishing in numerous camps and prisons in North and East Syria whereby the notorious Al-Hol and Roj camps are still classified as the most dangerous places inside AANES, often described as “ticking time bombs”. Thus, further capacities are still urgently needed in order to ensure the proper supervision of these camps and prisons and prevent the resurgence of another large-scale attack, such as in January 2022 in the Ghweiran prison, situated in the Northern Al-Hassaka province.

Amid the Western countries’ continuous indifference and reluctance to repatriate all its incarcerated nationals, AANES eventually announced its intention to instigate the first trials of foreign ISIS fighters, in line with all international and local terrorism laws on June 10, 2023.