European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps
The Open Society’s Justice Initiative briefing paper outlines the plight of approximately a thousand European women and children are currently detained in makeshift detention camps in Northeast Syria, since the fall of ISIS in 2019. A transparent and human rights based repatriation system is required. The briefing paper notes that “it is effectively impossible for these children prove their European nationality … as there is no way for children to get travel documents, return to their countries, or contest the arbitrary detention, inhuman and degrading treatment, and other human rights violations they are being subjected to.” Child Identity Protection encourages European governments to repatriate their child nationals together with the children’s primary caregivers, to uphold their obligations under international law, notably the CRC and specifically the child’s right to identity, including name, nationality and family relations.
