MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2022) Spain has decided to repatriate Spanish citizens that are spouses and widows of jihadists of the Islamic State (banned in Russia as a terrorist organization), as well as their children, the El Pais newspaper reported on Monday, citing government sources.
According to the newspaper, the decision applies to four women and 16 children, the eldest of whom is 15 years old. After the fall of IS's last bastion, the Syrian village of Baghuz, in March 2019, they ended up in prisoner-of-war camps, which are currently under the control of Kurdish militias in northeast Syria.
Three of the women, all Spanish nationals, asked the authorities to allow them to return to Spain with 13 minors in their care. The fourth prisoner-of-war escaped with her three children from the Al-Hol refugee camp in 2020, and her whereabouts have since been unknown.
The Spanish government intends to repatriate the women by the end of the year, the report said. Upon arrival, they will be required to appear before the country's National Court that links them to a jihadist cell their husbands allegedly belonged to.
The women could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, but they claim that they did not fight or participate in jihadist actions, the newspaper noted.
The Spanish court must also decide whether to deprive them of custody over the children. In addition, social services will have to ensure that minors receive medical, educational and psychological assistance upon arrival in Spain, and monitor the process of their integration to determine whether they have been indoctrinated.
