The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Do not abandon us now, Kurdish leader tells the West as Isil battle draws to a close

Children of foreign Isil members risk becoming the next generation of jihadists if they are left in Syria, a senior Kurdish official has warned.

Unrepentant parents, such as Shamima Begum, could radicalise their children in sprawling Syrian desert camps, where security forces could lose track of them.

Ilham Ahmed, co chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said Britain must repatriate citizens who traveled to Syria or be prepared to commit “significant” resources to trying and detaining them in Syria.

“Them remaining in our area is a huge liability,” she told the Telegraph.

“We have fulfilled our duties. We have captured them and we have held them. We are now making sure they don’t escape,” said Ms Ahmed.

“Here in the West you have all the opportunities to try them. You have courts, you have the laws, you have prisons. All the means to give these people a trial and convict them… on behalf of these governments that these people are citizens of, ” said Ms Ahmed.

Shamina Begum, right, has said she does not regret joining Islamic State
Shamina Begum, right, has said she does not regret joining Islamic State

About 4,000 women and children from Isil families are currently being held in camps by the SDF, including Ms Begum, the 19-year-old from Bethnal Green who has said she has no regrets about joining the terror group. 

Ms Ahmad said Ms Begum’s attitude was typical of many detainees.

“The majority of them say that – that they don’t have any regrets. And you can see that in the way they raise their children: they raise them in the ideology of Isil, and they still think that ideology is correct,” she said in an interview in London.

“That’s why it is not just enough to take these people back. They also need to be treated. The children, they need special care. So do the mothers.”

“The alternative would be that we receive a lot of support and assistance in trying these people in our region, in terms of courts, in turns of legal procedures and so on.”

Donald Trump, the US president, last week called on European governments to repatriate an estimated 800 foreign members of Isil who have been taken prisoner in Syria.

A Syrian Democratic Forces fighter walks down an empty street in As Susah, a town destroyed in fighting with Isil
A Syrian Democratic Forces fighter walks down an empty street in As Susah, a town destroyed in fighting with Isil CREDIT:  CHRIS MCGRATH/ GETTY IMAGES EUROPE

But Theresa May’s spokesman rebuffed the American suggestion on Monday, saying the fighters should be put on trial in places where they committed their crimes.

“Foreign fighters should be brought to justice in accordance with due legal process in the most appropriate jurisdiction,” Downing Street said. “Where possible, this should be in the region where the crimes had been committed.”

France and Germany have also rejected the idea, citing the difficulty of securing sufficient evidence and witness testimony to guarantee prosecutions.

Isil’s last redoubt in the eastern Syrian village of Baguz is expected to fall to the SDF and coalition forces imminently. Ms Ahmed is one of a number of senior Kurdish leaders taking part in a diplomatic blitz to convince Western governments not to abandon the SDF when it does.

They fear Mr Trump’s announcement in December that he will withdraw US forces from Syria will open space for a resurgence of Isil sleeper cells and allow Turkey to launch an attack on Kurdish forces. 

“We do not even want to talk about the prospect of withdrawal without security guarantees,” she said. “We want aerial protection so there are no airstrikes. And we’d like to see observation on the border. We are concerned about a Turkish military attack.”

“We are now experiencing the last days before the announcement of the end of the operation. But after that we expect to begin a new process of getting rid of these sleeper cells and getting rid of other elements of Isil, and for that we will continue to need support,” she went on.

“In Raqqa there are daily explosions, kidnappings, and violence. Likewise in Deir Ezzor. So these things are still happening.”

Turkey considers the YPG, the Kurdish armed group that forms the core of the SDF, a terrorist organisation.

In December, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, threatened to launch a military operation to “wipe out terror groups east of the Euphrates.”

Ms Ahmed said Mr Trump had been supportive about the idea of a security zone when she met him in January, but that he had not mentioned any details. Kurdish leaders have rejected a proposal for a Turkish-controlled 30 kilometre “security area” inside Syria.

Turkey is a key Nato member and regional power, putting the United States and other coalition members, including Britain, in the uncomfortable position of choosing between two allies.

Ms Ahmed said the SDF could seek accommodation with Bashar al-Assad’s government and his Russian allies if Western coalition partners fail to guarantee security against potential Turkish attack.

“One solution could be regional protection forces in the north could become part of a new Syrian army – and note that I said ‘new’ Syrian army. It could not be under the current status quo, but if there is a new structure within the framework of a political solution.

“In the light of sudden announcements of withdrawals, without guarantees, without leaving us any kind of means to do things another way, this could be a solution,” she said.

Such an arrangement could be part of a proposed post-war constitutional settlement that Kurdish groups have drawn up as the fighting in Syria draws to a close.

Under the plan, powers would be devolved to the regions, and local parliaments would have representatives in Damascus. The rights of minorities and gender equality would be written into the constitution and Assad’s fate would be decided by an election.

Source: Do not abandon us now, Kurdish leader tells the West as Isil battle draws to a close