This event is a European Eye on Radicalization webinar looking at the debate over repatriating Islamic State (ISIS) foreign fighters from the camps in Syria. 

Despite the destruction of ISIS’s “caliphate” taking place in March 2019, more than three years later the issue remains unresolved and politically contentious. 

Another round of debate flared up recently after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) asked France to reconsider its decision to not repatriate two women who traveled to Syria and Iraq in 2014 and 2015 to join the Islamic State, where they gave birth to three children. The French Foreign Ministry said noted the ECHR decision and said that it was ready to renew repatriation operations “whenever conditions allow”. 

To look at the legal implications from the ECHR decision for the states that have put themselves under its jurisdiction, and the other political, moral, and security issues, EER gathered a panel of experts:

Abigail Thorley, Researcher at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT).

Liam Duffy, Researcher, speaker and trainer in counter- terrorism based in London

Sharon Weill, Associate Professor of International law, American University of Paris. Associate Researcher, CERI, Sciences PO Paris

Sofia Koller, Senior Research Analyst, Counter Extremism Project (CEP), Germany.

The event was published on 30 September 2022.