French Woman Faces Trial After 15 Years in Syria Following Childhood Abduction

Born in Haute-Garonne, France, Réhane B., still a minor, arrived in Syria. Her mother, Rachida B*, 47, a radicalized Toulousaine, had kidnapped her from her father in 2004, when she was only 3 years old, reports Le Parisien. This is the beginning of an unprecedented story.

On her arrival in Syria, the little girl was far from imagining the situation her mother was getting her into. She will spend fifteen years of her life, her childhood and adolescence, in the Middle East. For more than a decade, she had witnessed the rise and fall of Daesh.

On May 17, 2019, she was indicted in France for terrorist criminal association, then incarcerated. And it is in the prison of Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne) that she will celebrate her 18th birthday.

According to sources close to the investigation, the young woman was expelled on May 14 last by the Turkish authorities, at Roissy airport, accompanied by a husband she met in Syria, Brahim L.*, and their baby, specifies Le Parisien.

Réhane B.’s journey is an unprecedented case for the French justice system. Questions abound: is this a young woman who has returned to her homeland who will be tried or a disappointed former Daesh member or even a victim?

* The first names have been changed.