Daesh children must be treated humanely
Now that the last bastion of Daesh has fallen in Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have declared victory over the self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’, the fate of about 3,500 children of members of Daesh — from various parts of the world — but being held in different camps in the Northeast of Syria, mostly in the Hawl camp, is still unknown. And their countries of origin seem to be washing their hands off them. It seems like they do not want to have anything to do with members of Daesh nor their families, except for Russia and Chechnya which have already made efforts for repatriation. And out of the 1,200 European kids, France is the only country that has come forward to repatriate some of them.
The issue of repatriation must be considered a humanitarian one. These kids are stigmatised for their parents’ choices in life. And they should not be made to pay for their parents’ faults. Remember, these are kids, they are victims and they have just witnessed a horrible war. Many of them are physically injured and
most suffer from emotional trauma.
The harsh winter these past two months, with temperatures regularly below freezing point has not helped in anyway. Over 50 children have died mainly due to lack proper facilities.
It is therefore of urgent concern, and the earlier governments assume responsibility to repatriate these unfortunate kids the better. Clear extradition agreements should be drawn out with extra provisions for the orphaned and the wounded including social workers and the necessary paper work.
Governments should also find ways and means to help these kids return to a normal life. Many of these children, who reached Syria along with their parents have now grown to become teenagers and some have even taken part in the war. They must be treated on a case to case basis, especially since some of them might still be harbouring Daesh ideas. Such youngsters must be ‘re-educated’ and only after that should they be allowed to integrate into societies based on peace, democracy and equality.
In case of war crimes, there must be a fair trial that will take into consideration the psychological conditions and the wrong ideologies these youngsters have received. And such trials must be in full compliance with international laws.
The bottom line is that governments must take responsibility to rehabilitate the young children. The West has often bragged about its humanitarian and democratic values. Now is the time for them to prove that they believe in these values.
In case of war crimes, there must be a fair trial that will take into consideration the psychological conditions and the wrong ideologies these youngsters have received