Daesh: More than 300 children and 550 wives imprisoned in Iraq 

The Human Rights Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has revealed that more than 300 children and 550 women of foreign nationalities have been imprisoned since the liberation of Iraqi cities previously controlled by Daesh.

In a statement reported by news channel Alsumaria TV, UNAMI stated: “Three years after the devastating defeat of Daesh’s elements and the liberation of Iraqi cities from their grip, the children and wives of Daesh fighters are still stranded without being able to return to their countries or get released to have normal lives again.”

The UN body indicated that most states refuse to receive their nationals who have links with Daesh in Iraq, including Australia, Germany, France, among other countries, leaving Iraq responsible for the children.

The Baghdad government refuses to grant Daesh children citizenship under the pretext that this procedure is illegal. However, the authorities are obliged to keep them in prisons and provide them with food until reaching an agreement to return foreigners to their countries.

Only two countries have agreed to accept a number of Daesh children, Turkey and Azerbaijan, as Ankara received a group of children of Turkish fathers a few months ago. Meanwhile, the Baku government repatriated 212 Daesh children of fighters of Azeri nationality who were kept with their mothers, imprisoned by the Iraqi judiciary on charges of joining the terrorist organisation.

The Iraqi judiciary is trying local and foreign Daesh fighters in accordance with Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, which stipulates the death penalty for anyone who committed a crime as a principal perpetrator or accomplice in terrorist acts.

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