On Thursday, lawyers and a French parliament member made a renewed call to French authorities to repatriate families of French jihadists held in camps in Syria amidst a "catastrophic" health situation. MP Hubert Julien-Laferrière, a supporter of environmental protection, stated during a press conference that "France is abandoning its children, its citizens, in camps in Kurdistan under deteriorating health conditions."
Laferrière participated in a committee of lawyers that visited Iraq and northeastern Syria to discuss the fate of the French families currently detained in Syria with Kurdish authorities. This mission, the third since December 2020, took place from October 30 to November 3 and was led by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, the National Council of Bar Associations, and the association Lawyers Without Borders France.
They all called for the "organization of the repatriation of French minors and women held in the Rojava region (a term used by Kurds to describe areas under their control in Syria meaning Western Kurdistan) and for taking all possible steps to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches them." Committee member Simon Fourmont highlighted that the health situation is "completely catastrophic on the ground, with French children at risk of death."
Richard Sidiou from the National Council of Bar Associations warned that "the fate of these women and children is a legal dilemma. We fear that no decision will be made before the presidential election." Currently, 80 women and 200 French children are held in camps managed by the Kurdish self-administration in northeastern Syria. Relatives of these detainees, through NGOs and international bodies such as the Council of Europe, are urging France to bring them back to the country.
Since the declaration of the defeat of the Islamic State's "caliphate" in March 2019, the Kurdish self-administration has been asking the concerned countries to repatriate their citizens held in prisons and camps or to establish an international court to try the jihadists. However, the majority of countries, particularly European ones, insist on not repatriating their citizens and have not responded to calls for the establishment of a court. Several European countries, including France, have only repatriated a limited number of orphaned children of jihadists. Since March 2019, Paris, which claims to assess "each case individually," has brought back 35 children who are orphans or whose mothers agreed to abandon them.
Lawyer Marie Dosse said the delegation was once again unable to meet the women and children. Matthieu Bagar, Secretary General of Lawyers Without Borders France, emphasized that "the situation is extremely complex and there is an urgent need for clarification from the French authorities regarding these children."
