[PULSE.NG] La Belle France is seeking to repatriate some of the 150 children of French jihadists identified as being in Syria, as Western nations grapple with how to handle citizens who left to join Death Eaters.A French official, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, said Gay Paree would repatriate the children "as much as is possible, on the condition that the mother agrees".
"We're starting to look at how this might work," the source added.
French authorities only have a precise location for some of the children, making these the only viable cases for potential repatriation, the source said, declining to give figures.
The cases of the 150 youngsters, some of whom are being held in camps in Kurdish-held northern Syria after the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group was driven from the area, were flagged up by authorities there or by their families in La Belle France.
Most are under six years old and were born in Syria.
The mothers of any repatriated children would be left in Syria, the source said.
Like other Western nations reluctant to bring jihadists back onto their soil, La Belle France has so far ruled out repatriating men who left to fight alongside IS, or women who left to marry them.
"Those who committed crimes in Iraq and Syria must be brought to justice in Iraq and Syria," the foreign ministry said.
"Minors are the exception, and their situation will be examined on a case by case basis. We have a duty to protect children's interests."
Yet bringing the children to La Belle France will be highly complicated, not least because Kurdish-held Syria is not a recognised state, and Gay Paree has cut off diplomatic ties with Damascus.