The Diplomat
The Government culminated yesterday the operation of repatriation of two women and thirteen minors of Spanish nationality who were in the Syrian refugee camps, as reported yesterday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
The repatriated Spaniards landed in the early hours of yesterday morning at the air base of Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) in an operation coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in which also participated the Departments of Interior, Defense, Social Rights, Justice and Presidency.
Once in Spanish territory, the two women of legal age were taken into custody by the National Police and their statements were taken before being handed over to the courts, in this case to the National High Court, which will proceed to legalize their procedural situation. For their part, the social services of the Community of Madrid have taken charge of the thirteen minors.
With this operation, which has lasted several months due to its complexity and the risk situation in the Syrian camps, Spain joins its European neighbors (Germany, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, among others). In this way, according to Foreign Ministry, “Spain complies with its legal obligations, also derived from international treaties”.
The operation, as in the case of other countries that wanted to get their nationals out of the displaced persons camps in northern Syria, has apparently received logistical and other support from the United States.
According to Europa Press, the returnees are Yolanda Martínez, who has four children, and Luna Fernández, who arrived in Spain with nine children. There is a third wife of a jihadist who has not been located and therefore has not been returned by the Spanish authorities.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited before the summer Spanish women linked to the Islamic State who remain in refugee camps in northern Syria in order to establish the conditions for their eventual repatriation to Spain, according to diplomatic sources quoted by Europa Press.
This official travelled to the Al Hol and Al Roj camps in order to “meet with the Spanish citizens who were there” and “establish the conditions for repatriation, once the security conditions for this are met”.
In September 2019, the Audiencia Nacional issued international arrest warrants for four women – three Spanish and one Moroccan – who were in Syria, where they had travelled to join the ranks of the Islamic State and who had expressed their desire to return to Spain. These women had 17 minors in their care at the time.
