France repatriates 15 women and 40 children from camps

On board a military plane, 40 French children were repatriated on Thursday, October 20. For some, this is the first time they have set foot in France. Among them are 8 orphans. The youngest are three to four years old. 15 mothers were also repatriated. All of them spent several years in Kurdish-controlled prison camps in Syria. The government thus confirms its change of policy. Condemned last September by the European Court of Human Rights for not having repatriated its fellow citizens to its soil, France is accelerating their return to its territory.

But there are still 160 children and nearly 60 women still prisoners in Syria. The women who have returned are now placed in police custody at the DGSI or directly presented to a judge and placed in pre-trial detention. The children, after a thorough medical examination, will be entrusted to social assistance for children before being placed in a foster family. Since 2019, 71 minors have been repatriated.