Countries such as Russia, Indonesia and Sudan have accepted the return of their ISIS’s widows and orphans in Syria, but Western countries, such as the United States, Britain and France are refusing to accept them back, according to the National Public Radio (NPR), a US privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization.
The NPR sent one of its reporters to a detention camp for ISIS militants’ widows and orphans in eastern Syria on the occasion of the anniversary of defeating ISIS, with the continuation of the activities of its members in Syria and Iraq and on social media, in addition to the arrest of a number of its militants in the US and European countries.
The Radio quoted Kurdish officials, who monitor the camps, as saying that there are citizens from 44 world countries. It also quoted some widows, including Um Mohammed, who refused to reveal her real name.
Um Mohammed is a Dutch citizen, who was married to a Dutch-Moroccan and moved with him to Syria. Her husband joined ISIS and was killed in a US air strike more than a year ago.
She said she is 32 and speaks English with a Dutch accent, adding that she was in search of a happier life when she decided to bring her family from the Netherlands to live under ISIS rule.
She described having felt discriminated against as a Muslim in the Netherlands and said the militant group's online propaganda drew her in.
"I thought the ISIS 'caliphate' would be perfect, like a utopia," said Um Mohammed.
"I don't think [life in the caliphate] was what most people expected. I regret going and having, you know, to go through this."
Kurdish-led militia fighters captured Um Mohammed after defeating ISIS in this part of northeastern Syria last year. She is now in one of three detention camps run by the Kurdish authorities.
The NPR also quoted officials in these camps who said that in addition to the over 500 male suspected ISIS members, they are holding some 550 foreign women and about 1,200 foreign children in all the camps combined.
Many of the children were born in ISIS-held territory in Syria.
"Just like we fought terrorism together, we must stand together in dealing with the aftermath," said Abdul Karim Omar, who co-chairs the Kurdish administration's foreign affairs office and criticizes countries that refuse to receive its citizens.
"These countries should take responsibility for their citizens. It's part of the effort to defeat ISIS."
The United Kingdom has instead reacted by stripping some ISIS members captured in Syria of their British citizenship. France recently agreed to take the children, but not the parents, the NPR said.
It added that the United States has been advocating for the return of foreign nationals to their countries and recently brought Americans — a man and woman — back to the US.
However, the US has also been accused by Human Rights Watch of transferring foreign nationals captured in Syria to prisons in Iraq, where they may be at risk of unfair trials and torture.
