All children born into the families of Belgian citizens who were recruited by the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) and relocated to Syria and Iraq should be repatriated instead of being held in makeshift camps, Belgian General Delegate for Children's Rights of the French Community Bernard De Vos told Sputnik
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2019) All children born into the families of Belgian citizens who were recruited by the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) and relocated to Syria and Iraq should be repatriated instead of being held in makeshift camps, Belgian General Delegate for Children's Rights of the French Community Bernard De Vos told Sputnik.In recent months, the population at Roj and Al Hol camps in Syria, located near the northern Iraqi Border, has swollen as many families of jihadists arrived from Baghuz, which was the last IS stronghold. As of March 31, Al Hol's population stands at over 70,000 people and 65 percent of them are children, according to UN figures. There are concerns about the threat of radicalization since many residents of the camp are loyal or had links to the Islamic State.
"These children from Belgian parents are in danger of death and have not asked to be born or to be taken to Syria. They will be a danger to our country only if we abandon them to their fate and they are recovered by the Islamists, to become ticking bombs themselves ... In reality, the decision to repatriate children cannot be restricted: it must extend, de facto, to all children currently detained in Syria and Iraq, in accordance with the moral obligation of the Belgian State to repatriate them," De Vos said on the sidelines of the 13th European Forum on the Rights of Children.
Belgian government spokesman Frederic Cauderlier told Sputnik in February that the children of jihadists aged under 10 who have family links in Belgium would be able to benefit from the Belgian diplomatic and consular services, while in case of those aged 10 and above, it would be "a case by case operation for spouses and children."
