Mother suspected of war crimes for recruiting own son to become IS child soldier

A female outbound traveler who was brought back from Syria with the help of the United States last May will appear in court for the first time on Thursday. The Public Prosecution Service is prosecuting 47-year-old Ayada K. for a war crime.

The Public Prosecution Service suspects her of being complicit in the recruitment and deployment of her son in the armed struggle for the terrorist group Islamic State (IS). The boy was younger than 15 at the time. "It is a war crime to recruit children under the age of 15 for military service and to use such child soldiers in combat," said a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service.

The boy is believed to have eventually died in 2017 in fighting near the city of Raqqa, then the capital of the IS-proclaimed caliphate in northern Syria.

K. left for Syria with her two children in 2014. Her son was 13 at the time, her daughter 14. According to various media, the daughter later married the Leiden jihadist Reda N., who was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in 2021.

The woman and her daughter had previously tried to have their criminal case terminated, but the court in Rotterdam gave the Cabinet an extra six months to bring them back last December. That happened on May 7.

K. and her daughter, both with a child, were arrested upon arrival in the Netherlands. The children were handed over to the Child Protection Board. The daughter has since been released on conditions pending her trial. Eleven Americans, six Canadians, and a Finn were also brought back during the repatriation operation, including eight children.

According to the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), since 2012, around 300 people, including around a hundred women, have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join jihadist groups, mainly the terrorist group Islamic State. The majority of them have returned. The service estimates that around a hundred Dutch travelers are still in Syria, Iraq, or Turkey. Overall, the majority of adult returnees are back in the Netherlands. Most outward travelers returned in the period 2013-2014, according to the AIVD.

K.'s lawyer was not available for comment.