Belgian Lawyers Push for Repatriation of ISIS Fighters’ Children from Syria

The taking of this resolution by the two lawyers is the logical consequence of an initial formal notice and the decision of the Brussels interim judge. On December 11, the Brussels Court of First Instance had asked the Belgian government to provide the ten children of fighters Nadia Baghouri, Jessie Van Eetvelde and Sabah Hammani, and the fighter Adel Mezroui, with consular assistance and administrative travel and identity documents, with a view to their repatriation. The children and their mothers are staying in the Al-Ho Syrian camp, while Mezroui is detained in the Kurdish prison of Al-Hasakah.

Failure to comply with this decision within the required time (six weeks) is punishable by a penalty of 50,000 euros per day and per child. To date, the Belgian government has only taken note of the judgment without executing it. The amount of the penalties amounts to 503,000 euros. But as the government has not paid anything so far, Abderrahim Lhlali and Mohamed Ozdemir intend to proceed with a protective seizure of assets. Hence the decision to send a bailiff to the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs.