Netherlands won't help Dutch jihadist out of Syria: report

The Dutch government will not help Dutch rebel fighter in the Syrian civil war Yago R. get out of Syria, where he is currently in a Kurdish prison. His British wife and their newborn son are also not welcome in the Netherlands, the Volkskrant reports based on information from immigration and naturalization service IND and the Ministry of Justice and Security.

Yago R. left Arnhem to join terrorist organization ISIS in Syria in 2015. In the caliphate he married then 15-year-old Shamima Begun from the United Kingdom. She recently gave birth to a son in a refugee camp in Syria. On Saturday R. told BBC News that he wants to come to the Netherlands with his wife and child. The British government already refused to let Begun return to the United Kingdom.

A spokesperson for Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security told the Volkskrant that the same rules apply to R. that apply to all Dutch jihadists. "If they want to return, they will not be helped from the Dutch side."

R.'s British wife also has little chance of being allowed into the Netherlands. Her Islamic marriage to R. will likely not be recognized in the Netherlands, according to the newspaper. And she also has little chance of getting a residency permit as R.'s partner - the requirements for such a residency permit include that both partners must be at least 21 years old. Begun is only 19 years old.