Fighters, women and children: The challenge of the return of the "Moroccans from Syria

After the collapse of the Kurdish forces in Syria, the US military has completed the transfer of 5,700 detainees from the Islamic State organization to Iraq. Baghdad is now urging Muslim and Western countries to take responsibility for their citizens and organize their return.

A senior Moroccan security official has confirmed the development of a comprehensive strategy. This plan takes into account "the diversity of the population targeted by the procedure, namely the fighters, as well as the women who lived in the camps in Syria, in addition to their children".

The official figures count 1,667 Moroccan fighters who have joined the conflict zone. Among them, 244 were detained in northeastern Syria, while 134 women and 354 children are still in displacement camps. To date, 279 former fighters have already returned to the Kingdom.

The repatriated will have to answer for their actions, as membership in terrorist groups is punishable by ten years in prison. Since its creation in 2015, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) has already dismantled dozens of militant cells and arrested more than 1,000 suspects.