Turkey has washed its hands of a French jihadist, his two wives and their nine children, sending them all back to France after refusing to accommodate the group in refugee camps.
The returns mark an acceleration in the repatriation of children of French nationals who travelled to Iraq or Syria to join Islamist groups, as Western countries come under increasing pressure to take back their terrorist exports.
The French foreign ministry stressed the forced return was unrelated to the repatriations of children from French jihadist families stranded in Syria.
A second group of 12 children, mostly orphans, was flown to France on Monday, following on a first group of six children in March.
At the end of May, the number of jihadists who had been returned to France stood at 277, according to official figures. Many were handed over by Turkey.
Separately, the government has been working with Syrian Kurdish authorities, who are pressuring foreign nations to take back jihadist families languishing in detention centres or sprawling camps in Syria’s northeast.
As Breitbart News reported, French authorities estimate there to be over 600 men and women in nearby Syria alone, all of whom are seeking repatriation to France after claiming to have turned their backs on Islamic State.
“No one has ever imagined that one day it would be necessary to repatriate all of this small world,” one senior official said, and added, “As a result, we are forced to beg delays to get organised.”
Some countries have refused to take in fighters, including in the United Kingdom, where jihadi bride Shamima Begum had her citizenship revoked by Home Secretary Sajid Javid earlier this year.
In 2015 one report by the French senate revealed 47 percent of all known jihadists in what was then Islamic State territory were French citizens, with national intelligence networks having to keep tabs on up to 3,000 individuals at any one time.
AFP contributed to this report
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