Dutch jihadist

Two Dutch women and three children escaped a Syrian prison camp in Al Hol and reported to the Dutch embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara with a request to return to the Netherlands, the government said in a letter to parliament on Thursday. "The women and children are currently in Turkish detention, awaiting prosecution and/or deportation by the Turkish authorities", the government wrote, NU.nl reports.

The conservative VVD party is willing to discuss retrieving the children of Dutch jihadists from Syria and bringing them back to the Netherlands, but only if their parents do not come with them, parliamentarian Dilan Yesilgoz said on television show Pauw. Up until now the party of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte always outright refused to negotiate on this topic.

"When it comes to children, that of course also affects me. Especially if they are small children", VVD MP Yesilgoz said on the television program. "They didn't choose this themselves."

Five persons recently officially regained their Dutch nationality, according to a decision published in the Staatscourant on Monday. These persons' Dutch nationality was previously revoked because they joined terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq, NOS reports.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Security could not confirm to NU.nl that the five persons involved are or were indeed jihadists. 

Krista van T., a 31-year-old woman from Limburg who went to join terrorist organization ISIS with her husband in 2014, is now a widow living in a crowded refugee camp in northern Syria with her four children. She is pleading for the Dutch government to allow her children back to the Netherlands - even if it is without her, she said to newspaper Trouw.

The Netherlands must "show grace and mercy" and bring back the children of Dutch jihadists in Iraq and Syria as quickly as possible, the special UN envoy for Children in Armed Conflicts, Virginia Gamba, said during a visit to The Hague on Thursday. The fact that these kids and their mothers are now just left to their fates is not only inhumane, but also contrary to international children's rights, she said, Het Parool reports.

Before leaving the Netherlands for the conflict zone in Syria and Iraq, many Dutch jihadist had frequent problems with work, money, education, housing, crime and their psychological health, according to a police study in which the files of over 300 Dutch rebel fighters in the Syrian civil war were analyzed. This means that the distinction between psychologically disturbed perpetrators and ideologically driven terrorists has become obsolete, the police said, ANP reports.

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. 

State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security stripped 37-year-old Outhmane B. of his Dutch nationality. B. traveled to Syria with his family in 2014 and followed jihadist training courses there. He was put on the national terrorism list in 2016, De Gelderlander reports.

According to the newspaper, B. lost his Dutch nationality because he "joined an organization that participates in a national or international armed conflict and poses a threat to national security". The man can appeal against the decision.

The Dutch Public Prosecutor has lists showing that Dutch jihadists received salaries from terrorist organization Islamic State in its possession. These payslips were given to the Dutch authorities by the FBI, newspaper AD reports.

The lists contain the names of all people who worked for ISIS in 2016 and 2017 in Arabic and English. This ranges from fighters to people who did supportive work. The lists include a number of Dutch people, some of whom are currently in custody in the Netherlands, according to the newspaper. 

Karenia J. from Zwolle died in a Syrian prison camp from illness and malnutrition two weeks ago. As the Belgian man she married in the ISIS caliphate also died, presumably on the battlefield, their two young children are now orphans. They are being taken cared for in the area, though exactly what this entails is unclear, AD reports.

A suspected Dutch jihadist was arrested in Tarragona, a coastal city in Spain on Monday. 29-year-old Khalid M. was arrested by the Mossos d'Esquadra, a special unit of the Spanish police, the Telegraaf reports based on reports in Spanish media.

Spanish security services warned the local authorities that M. may be in the country on Saturday. He was said to be driving a family vehicle and may show "unpredictable behavior", the Telegraaf writes.