MANAGER
Both legally and practically, this is complicated. From a humanitarian and security policy perspective, the conclusion is nevertheless simple.
DANGEROUS: Four Norwegian women and four Norwegian children are being detained in the Al-Hol and Al-Roj camps, two and a half years after IS was defeated in Syria. The children are from four to six years old.
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Manager: This is an editorial from Dagbladet, and expresses the newspaper’s views. Dagbladet’s political editor is responsible for the editorial.
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Sunday picked up Albania five women and 14 children from camps in Syria that house foreign fighters. One week ago, it became clear that New Zealand is accepting a former IS woman and her two children. Two weeks ago, Finland brought a woman with her two children from the Al-Hol camp. In May, the Danish government decided to bring in three Danish mothers and 19 children. In June, the Netherlands brought in three children and a woman. The same month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the country’s allies to bring home their IS fighters. In July, the Council of Europe asked stubborn member states to bring home their own citizens. The Kurds have long begged European authorities to take back their own citizens.
An important signal
Four Norwegian women and four Norwegian children is interned in the Al-Hol and Al-Roj camps, two and a half years after IS was defeated in Syria. The children are from four to six years old. Norwegian authorities left them behind, when in January 2020 they brought home the Norwegian-Pakistani woman who has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. In recent months, two of the Norwegian women have again asked the Norwegian authorities for help to return home.
For a long time, the Danish government also refused to bring home its citizens. Two recommendations in particular made Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen turn around. The first came from a working group set up by a broad majority in the Folketing, about what should happen to the mothers and children. The other came from the Police Intelligence Service, PET. They say that the women can be further radicalized and receive weapons training in the camps. PET therefore believes that a later return to Denmark will constitute a more serious threat than if the women are brought home and brought to justice now. The same arguments are also valid for Norwegian women and their children. The longer they stay in Syria, the more dangerous they become.
