Dutch Government Grapples With Question of Dutch ISIS Women in Syria

Hat tip Ben


The Netherlands is grappling with a dilemma over what to do with women with Dutch citizenship who have gone off with their husbands to Syria to join ISIS. Several of them are now in Kurdish custody in Syria, and the Dutch government is trying to get them repatriated back home. The below article from NRC News (NE) is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/02/01/nederland-onderzoekt-terughalen-6-vrouwen-en-hun-kinderen-uit-syrie-a3652648


The Netherlands Looking Into  Repatriation of 6 Wives and Their Children from Syria

An arrest warrant has been issued against the women. In a letter to the Chamber, Minister Grapperhaus writes that the policy remains unchanged.

Wives and children who fled from the fighting between the Syrian Democratic forces (mostly Kurdish fighters) and the Islamic State, on 31 January
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The Netherlands is looking into how, together with the Kurdish authorities, six women who went to Syria and their 11 chilkdren can be repatriated. The women are suspected of belonging to a terrorist organization. That is what Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus (Justice and Security, CDA) said Friday to NOS. An arrest warrant has been issued against the 6 (women who went to Syria). 

This active repatriation does not apply to other females (who went to Syria) and their children. On Thursday, Minister Grapperhaus informed the Chamber that the policy, with the exception of the 6 women, is not changed. That was confirmed by a spokesman for the minister this Friday to NRC.  The government maintains that the other (women who went to Syria) must make their own way to the consulate in Erbil. This is actually not possible because the women are in Kurdish camps as prisoners.

Detailed Arrest Warrant

In a January 8 judgment, the court in Rotterdam demanded  that the authorities make every effort to get (the women) out of the Al-Hol camp on the Syrian-Iraqi border. Detailed instructions on this were given. The women and their children should be brought from northeastern Syria to the border with Iraq and from there transferred to the Kurdish Autonomous Region. In Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi-Kurdish region, there is a Dutch consulate. From there, their repatriation should be arranged.

Grapperhaus told NOS:

"We have spoken with the organizations that manage the camps. We have established that if they actually transfer them to a safe area, and then to a consulate of the Netherlands, then we can take them. Mothers will then, naturally, be arrested by the Marechaussee (police) and the children can be received by Child Protection."

Poor Conditions

On Thursday, the World Health Organization reported  that 29  children and babies had died from hypothermia in the the Al-Hol refugee camp. The (population) in the camp has tripled in the the past weeks. This has led to a shortage of tents, toilets, medical supplies, and there is no heating. Also, there are dozens of Dutch people.

This week, France announced that French jihadis, who are stuck in Syria are going to be actively repatriated.  This is due to the fact that the US is withdrawing, which makes the situation in the region unstable. Under pressure from judges, Belgium is preparing to  to to bring children of IS-fighters to Belgium. For the time being, Belgium is refusing to repatriate their mothers.
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The statements of the government indicate they intend to prosecute these women. Hopefully, that is so, but given the leniency of the Dutch courts, who knows for how long they would remain in
custody. In the US, they would be looking at decades in prison, but that is not the case in Europe. Sweden welcomes even IS fighters back with open arms, relocates them and provides job training. What a deal!