“The children of the Syrian camps are victims that France abandons by making them pay for the choice of their parents”

Tribune. For more than two years, nearly 200 French children have been arbitrarily detained with their mothers in the Roj and Al-Hol camps in northeastern Syria. The living conditions in these camps are dire and the situation continues to deteriorate. These French children, the vast majority of whom are under 6, bear the scars of their injuries and traumas. They do not receive any appropriate care and do not go to school.

Numerous observers and NGOs have been reporting for years this situation, which is deeply infringing on human rights. On February 8, around 20 independent human rights experts at the United Nations called for immediate action to “Prevent irreparable damage to people in vulnerable situations who are detained there” and noted that“An unknown number of people have already died because of their conditions of detention”.

M^me Fionnuala Ni Aolain, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said that “The existence of these camps taints the conscience of humanity”. In its report of February 17 entitled “Europe’s Guantanamo”, the NGO Rights and Security International (RSI) accurately describes the degraded state of health and the deep trauma of these children left without care.

Inhumane treatments

Unicef, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the top UN official Mr. Panos Moumtzis, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr.^me Dunja Mijatovic, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, have all called for the repatriation of these children in their best interests. In France, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights and the Defender of Rights have adopted the same posture, without the executive deciding to reconsider its categorical refusal to repatriate these children and their mothers.

In addition to the unworthy conditions of detention, the inhuman and degrading treatment these children have to face. They are prohibited from speaking with their families, and access to the camps is prohibited for French families and lawyers. These women and children were almost all imprisoned in an underground prison near Qamishli and remained crammed into cells of a few square meters, without being able to wash themselves or to eat their fill, for weeks and sometimes months.

You have 62.4% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.