TT must bring back detainees in Syria

THE EDITOR: On March 23, the third anniversary of the defeat of the Islamic State at the battle of Baghuz Fawqani, Syria, was celebrated by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the international grand coalition led by the US.

March 23 is also the third anniversary of detention in the camps of northeast Syria of TT children and women. The SDF issued a statement on the anniversary of victory, which states:

“In this regard, we refer to the imminent danger ISIS continues to pose, particularly its terrorist cells, and we reiterate that the terrorist organisation is trying to revive its dreams again by trying to control some areas in Syria and Iraq to form a foothold to expand and attract potential elements in the world.

“The recent attacks on the al-Sin’a prison in al-Hasakah city confirmed what we long warned of the danger of the international community neglecting and slowing down in resolving this file, the most important of which are the prisons and camps holding ISIS detainees and families.

“It has to be noted the narrow approaches of some countries and their unwillingness to assume their responsibilities by repatriating their nationals of ISIS detainees and families from the north and east Syria. In addition to the lack of assistance necessary to establish an international tribunal in our regions. Such approaches harm the efforts made over the past years in the war against ISIS’s ability to overcome its deep setbacks.” https://sdf-press.com/en/2022/03/statement-on-the-third-anniversary-of-eliminating-isis-last-strongholds/

The SDF in this statement has called out the TT Government as its nationals in the camps and prison are the largest third-country contingent per capita presently detained by the SDF in northeast Syria, yet for three years the Government has refused to visit the camps officially with a delegation of state officials to determine and verify the existence of TT nationals in the camps and prison.

After three years of detention the Government has refused to put in place the fundamental groundwork necessary to repatriate the children and women who constitute the largest single group within the TT contingent, much less to establish the strategic imperative of a policy for efficacious rehabilitation and reintegration into the TT social order of the nationals in the camps.

The Government acts as if it has the luxury of leaving the TT contingent in the camps and prison forever, or until they all die, without any risk of blowback on TT by this delusional stance.

The shrill voice of the banshee of the SDF in this statement speaks to an alternate hegemonic reality where, with the escalating threat of a resurgent Islamic State posing a grave danger to especially the al-Hawl camp, the TT contingent will be gathered, loaded onto a US aircraft and dropped off at Piarco.

TT is way too small and of no geopolitical consequence to play chicken with the US and its interests in northeast Syria. Those who break stick in their ears to the shrill call of the SDF is in fact calling out the US to stand and deliver.

Repatriation of the TT women and children is inevitable. A planned, strategic repatriation towards rehabilitation and reintegration into the social order of TT to ensure public safety is the only viable reality for us as a nation to embrace. The present inaction of the Government will damage the interests of TT and our social order in the very near future.

DAURIUS FIGUEIRA

via e-mail