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ISIS-affiliated German women and their children enter a bus in an unidentified location in Rojava on March 30, 2022. Photo: ANHA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Most of the German women and children linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) have been repatriated from northeast Syria (Rojava), a Kurdish official told Rudaw English on Thursday.
Germany repatriated 37 nationals, ten children and 27 women, from Rojava’s Roj camp late Wednesday following an “extremely difficult operation,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced on Thursday.
"The 27 children are victims of 'Islamic State,' and they have the right to a better future away from its deadly ideology, and to live in safety, as we wish for our own children," the minister was quoted in a statement by her office, noting that "the mothers have to take responsibility for their actions. Some of them were immediately taken into custody upon arrival in Germany."
She added that “the majority of the German children whose mothers are willing to return to Germany have been brought to safety. There are now only a few special cases for which we are continuing to work on individual solutions.”
Abdulkarim Omar, head of Rojava’s foreign affairs office, also reported the repatriation.
Today, March 30, 2022, 10 German women and 27 children from ISIS families were handed over to a delegation from German Foreign Affairs Ministry according to an official repatriation document signed by the two sides.@GermanyDiplo pic.twitter.com/eot9Pzw3Nj
— Dr Abdulkarim Omar (@abdulkarimomar1) March 30, 2022
Sheikhmus Ahmed, who supervises the administration of Rojava's IDP and refugee camps, told Rudaw English later on Thursday that with the repatriation of the 37 German nationals, the majority of German children and women have been repatriated.
He accused Western countries of “evading responsibility” when it comes to their nationals.
German federal police confirmed that several of the repatriated women - aged between 23 and 36 - have been arrested on suspicion of committing crimes, adding that others are being investigated, reported Deutsche Welle on Thursday.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Most of these people are held at al-Hol camp, which is home to around 56,000 people – mostly women and children of different nationalities.
The SDF and the US have called on the international community several times to repatriate their nationals but only a few of them have responded positively.
ISIS attacked al-Sina’a prison in Hasaka on January 20 with explosive-laden vehicles and other weapons. This led to over a week of intense clashes between ISIS fighters and the SDF. Control of the prison was retaken by the SDF with the support of the global coalition against ISIS, with the recaptured prisoners transferred to another prison.
The SDF called on the international community to accelerate the repatriation of their nationals following the prison break.
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