Two Dutch terrorism suspects transferred from Syria to the Netherlands | Domestic

Outgoing ministers Dilan Yesilgöz (Justice and Security) and Hanke Bruins Slot (Foreign Affairs) informed the House of Representatives of this.

The children have been handed over to the Child Protection Council. The ministers do not provide any further information about the operation. “By transferring them to the Netherlands, the government wants to prevent these two suspects from remaining impunity,” the ministers say.

The women had petitioned the judge to end their lawsuit. The Rotterdam court had adjourned the case for six months in December to give the cabinet the opportunity to pick up the women.

In addition to the Dutch suspects, the US has also arrested eleven American citizens. That is the largest number to date, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press statement.

Six Canadians and a Finn were also picked up. The US says it has received help from the government in Kuwait and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of militias and rebel groups.

The US estimates that around 30,000 people from sixty countries are in the Al Hol and Al Roj camps, many of them children. Blinken is happy that the Netherlands, Canada and Finland have brought back their citizens. “We thank these governments for their partnership. We applaud the leadership they are showing in bringing their citizens home.”

According to the AIVD, approximately three hundred people “with jihadist intentions” have traveled from the Netherlands to Syria and Iraq since 2012. A third of them are women. The majority of those travelers have joined the terrorist organization IS.

Most adult visitors to Iraq and Syria have returned to the Netherlands. The majority returned in 2013 and 2014. About a hundred Dutch travelers are still in Syria, Iraq or Turkey.

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