Twelve women remanded into custody on terrorism charges after arrival from Syria

The 12 women suspected of terrorism who were picked up from northern Syria on Tuesday will remain in custody for two more weeks, the examining magistrate of the court in Rotterdam decided on Friday.

The women and their 28 children arrived in the Netherlands late on Tuesday evening. After arrival, the children were handed over to child protection services and placed in institutions. On Friday, the women were brought before the examining magistrate one by one. They are suspected of terrorist crimes.

The women and their children were trapped in detention camps for years, where living conditions are poor. The Cabinet decided to take the women back so that they can be prosecuted in the Netherlands for their possible involvement in the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). If this were not done in time, their lawsuits would be dropped.

In recent years, several women have been convicted by a court in the Netherlands for their support of the terrorist group IS, which declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2014.