Belgium intends to return the children of its citizens from the Syrian camps

Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilms said, “27 children stranded in displacement camps in northeastern Syria will be eligible for DNA tests before being returned to the country.”

This came during a meeting of the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, according to the “Kurdistan 24” news site.
“The tests can be conducted locally and analyzed in Belgium,” Wilms added, noting that two Belgian women are still in Syria, and one of them is being held with two children in Damascus.

She emphasized that children born in Syria, whose parents or one of them were proven to be Belgians, could be repatriated with a temporary passport or an emergency travel visa.

She noted that “determining the factors and reasons sufficient for children born in Syria who do not have a birth certificate to enter the Belgian territory is the prerogative of the Immigration Department.”

On the other hand, Ellen Samen, a member of the House of Representatives for the right-wing Pelang Flemish Party, opposed the decision and expressed concern about the repatriation of children with their mothers who may have committed crimes in Syria.

“As for our party, there is no place for them in our society and they should be subject to trial and imprisonment in the area where they committed their crimes,” Samin said.

She added that the maximum prison sentence currently for belonging to a terrorist organization is five years, which means that they will be released within a few years.

Source: Agencies