The Belgian State has seven more days to provide consular assistance to ten children of Begian IS terrorists to help them return to Belgium, before it will have to pay a €50,000 penalty per day it does not.
Belgium has not taken any steps yet, according to the children's lawyer. Four other children of Belgian IS women already arrived at Brussels Airport Zaventem on Monday.
On 11 December, the Brussels court ruled that the ten children of four Belgian IS terrorists, Nadia Baghouri (28), Jessie Van Eetvelde (41), Sabah Hammani (28) and Adel Mezroui (23), had to be repatriated from the north of Syria.
"Only the children should be helped," the judge ruled. They are all between six months and 7-years-old, as well as sick and malnourished.
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Belgium had to provide them with consular assistance within six weeks, the judge ordered, and also provide them with the necessary identity, administrative and/or travel documents "which enable them to travel to Belgium from Syria under escort, and to enter Belgium regularly," the court ruled.
"However, that still has not happened," said Mohamed Ozdemir, the parents' lawyer. "The Belgian State has requested, at most, some passport photos of the children. But the families have not had a visit from the consular services of Belgium," he said, reports Het Nieuwsblad.
The six-week time limit imposed by the court expires on Tuesday 28 January. Starting from that day, Belgium will have to pay a penalty of €50,000 (€5,000 per child) for every day that the children are not helped.
The Kurdish people, who are holding the Belgians prisoner, have indicated that they will only let the children leave with their parents, complicating the case.
Four other children from Belgian IS terrorists Tatiana Wielandt (27) and Bouchra Abouuallal (26) have arrived in Belgium on Monday, marking a total of 12 children who have been brought back.
In total, there are reportedly more than 50 children with Belgian links still in Syria, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
