France repatriated, Wednesday, January 13, seven children of French jihadists from northeastern Syria, under the control of Kurdish forces, the French Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.

These young minors, "particularly vulnerable", were handed over on their arrival in France to "judicial authorities" and "taken care of by social services", he added.

They are between two and eleven years old, the ministry was told.

>> To see, our Focus: "The thorny question of the return of the children of French jihadists"

In total, 35 children of French jihadists have been brought back from Syria since the collapse of the Islamic State organization in March 2019. The last repatriation dated back to June 2020 and concerned ten minors.

They are generally orphans and children entrusted by the rare mothers who have agreed to part with them.

"France thanks the local officials in northeastern Syria for their authorization and cooperation," added the ministry without giving further details.

Detained in the Roj and Al-Hol camps, these children were handed over to a French delegation on Tuesday, a source within the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration told an AFP correspondent in Qamichli (north East).

"They belong to families of the Islamic State. Three children are from the same family and are orphans. For the other four, their mothers have accepted their return alone, due to their delicate state of health," he said. -it added on condition of anonymity.

A "case by case" management

In a press release, the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration said it had received on Tuesday the visit of a French delegation led by Eric Chevalier, director of the Quai d'Orsay crisis and support center.

During the visit, "a number of children from the families of the Islamic State group were handed over (to the delegation) because of their state of health, under an official agreement signed by the two parties," the statement said. .

The French authorities are regularly singled out for their refusal to repatriate the 150 or so French jihadists, men and women, whom they consider to be accomplices of the Islamic State group, the Syrian and Iraqi theaters, and for the trickle-down return of children, subject to parental authorization.

The National Consultative Commission for Human Rights (CNCDH) called in December for the return of all children from Syria as well as jihadists "sentenced to death in Iraq".

She then estimated at 250 the number of French minors, held in camps in northeastern Syria, controlled by Kurdish forces, and deplored the management "on a case-by-case basis" operated by the French government.

With AFP

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