Belgium repatriates 16 children of jihadists living in a Kurdish camp in Syria

16 children and 6 wives of jihadists left a camp in Kurdistan, north-eastern Syria. They were repatriated to Belgium on the night of Monday to Tuesday June 21. A major exfiltration – the biggest of the Belgian government since the fall of Daesh in 2019. “The 16 repatriated children were born between 2010 and 2019. Among them is an orphan of a Belgian father“, explained Frédéric Van Leeuwen, federal prosecutor in Belgium.

Already a year ago, a first operation had allowed the repatriation of 10 children and their 6 mothers to Belgium. All came from this same camp, Al-Hol, under Kurdish control. There are still Belgian nationals there, and especially French families. 80 French women and 200 children are still being held there, in inhuman sanitary conditions, according to the UN. “France is better, here it’s a camp. It’s a little hard, it’s cold“, says this child.