Netherlands won't repatriate Dutch ISIS members transferred to Iraqi prisons
Thousands of former ISIS fighters have been transferred from prisons in Syria to prisons in Iraq in recent weeks. According to Iraqi authorities, this includes Dutch nationals. The Dutch government has no intention of repatriating these prisoners, despite criticism from human rights organizations, NOS reports.
It is unclear how many Dutch nationals are now held in Iraqi prisons or who they are. Lawyers have been unable to contact them.
For years, ISIS fighters were held in prisons in northeastern Syria, run by the Kurdish SDF militia. Earlier this year, fighting broke out between government forces and SDF militia in northeastern Syria, after which the Kurdish fighters said they lost control of the prisons. At the end of last month, the American military announced it had begun transferring ISIS prisoners to prisons in Iraq.
A few days ago, the Americans said they’ve transferred 5,700 prisoners. The Iraqi authorities confirmed this, reporting that the prisoners represent 61 different nationalities, including Dutch.
Iraq would prefer that these countries repatriate their citizens and prosecute them at home. The Kurds also wanted this. But no one seems eager to take their people back, including the Netherlands.
The Ministry of Justice and Security told NOS that it will not repatriate any Dutch ISIS fighters to the Netherlands at this time. “The government’s position is that the trial of ISIS members and the execution of prison sentences should take place in the region,” a spokesperson for the Ministry said. “Despite the changing situation in Syria and Iraq, there are currently no plans to repatriate ISIS members with a Dutch connection.”
Human rights lawyer Hoshyar Malo is very critical. “European countries must take responsibility for their citizens,” he told the broadcaster. He considers it unlikely that these prisoners will get anything resembling a fair trial, especially since the evidence agains thtem and all their files were likely left behind in the transfer chaos. “They should request their extradition and have them convicted according to their legal system, not the Iraqi legal system.”
Human rights organizations point out that Iraq regularly executes prisoners. That could also happen to Dutch nationals. “Especially if the Netherlands hasn’t requested the prisoner’s extradition.”
NOS spoke to the brothers and father of a 21-year-old Dutchman who traveled to Syria to join ISIS in 2018. They haven’t heard from him since he was arrested by Kurdish troops in 2019. They hope that the Netherlands will take responsibility. “We have a system in place that can ensure my son and others can reintegrate,” the father told NOS.
“It feels like we’re being abandoned,” one of the brothers said. According to him, the anti-terrorism agency NCTV advised them to go to Iraq, get their family member out of prison, and take them to the Dutch embassy. “But that almost sounds like a suicide mission that we, as young people, have to go there.”
The NCTV disputes this and told NOS that it does not advise people to travel to Iraq and Syria.
