Foreign minister: Sweden won't help citizens held in Isis camps return
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström has said the country won't help return Swedes who joined the Islamic State group and are currently held in camps in north-eastern Syria.
"The government will not act so that the Swedish citizens and persons with connections to Sweden who are in camps or detention centres in north-eastern Syria are brought to Sweden," Billström said in a statement to AFP.
"Sweden has no legal obligation to act for these individuals to be brought to Sweden. This applies to women, children and men," he continued.
The Islamic State (also known as Isis and IS) group's fall in 2019 in Syria created the problem of what to do with the families of foreign jihadists captured or killed there and in Iraq.
More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis, and foreigners from at least 45 countries are held in the squalid and overcrowded Al-Hol camp in Kurdish-controlled north-east Syria.
Billström said that the remaining Swedes, had for several years been offered opportunities to return to Sweden, but had "refused again and again."
The minister added that Sweden was facing a deteriorating security situation and it could not rule out that returning adults could pose a security threat upon their return.
Broadcaster TV4 reported that five children with connections to Sweden remained in camps in Syria.
However, Billström stressed that "the responsibility for the children lies with their parents, who have chosen to travel to Syria to join IS, one of the world's most cruel terrorist organisations."
Comments
See Also
"The government will not act so that the Swedish citizens and persons with connections to Sweden who are in camps or detention centres in north-eastern Syria are brought to Sweden," Billström said in a statement to AFP.
"Sweden has no legal obligation to act for these individuals to be brought to Sweden. This applies to women, children and men," he continued.
The Islamic State (also known as Isis and IS) group's fall in 2019 in Syria created the problem of what to do with the families of foreign jihadists captured or killed there and in Iraq.
More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis, and foreigners from at least 45 countries are held in the squalid and overcrowded Al-Hol camp in Kurdish-controlled north-east Syria.
Billström said that the remaining Swedes, had for several years been offered opportunities to return to Sweden, but had "refused again and again."
The minister added that Sweden was facing a deteriorating security situation and it could not rule out that returning adults could pose a security threat upon their return.
Broadcaster TV4 reported that five children with connections to Sweden remained in camps in Syria.
However, Billström stressed that "the responsibility for the children lies with their parents, who have chosen to travel to Syria to join IS, one of the world's most cruel terrorist organisations."
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.