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French authorities said on July 5 that they have repatriated 51 women and children from areas in Syria previously controlled by the Islamic State militant group.
This is the largest group of people repatriated to France from camps in northeastern Syria since IS was defeated in March 2019. France has had the highest number of citizens join IS than any other other country in Europe.
The group of repatriates includes 16 women, aged 22 to 39, and 35 minors, seven of whom returned to France unaccompanied by adult family members. All but two women are French nationals. Twelve women returned with their children and four women earlier had their children returned, the National Counterterrorism Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
Eight women were taken into custody, in order to be questioned by the authorities, while eight others were arrested, as there were arrest warrants against them. Child protection services will take care of the returned children.
One of the 35 minors is in police custody, under the suspicion of having participated in the activities of the terrorist enterprise, it was said in the statement of the Prosecutor’s Office, where it was said that the minor will soon turn 18 years old.
Many European countries have been slow to allow women and children to return for fear they could be violent. France, which has had more of its nationals join IS in Syria than any other European country and experienced several deadly attacks in 2015, has been particularly reluctant to return its nationals.
French authorities have insisted that adults who fought alongside IS should be prosecuted in the country where they committed the crimes.
In December, a 28-year-old French woman with diabetes died in a camp in Syria, leaving behind her six-year-old daughter, her family’s lawyer said. She had requested to return to France since 2019./Rel
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