Academics For Repatriation

This website has been created by academics who support European families in their demands for the repatriation of their children and grand-children in North-East Syria. About 5000 Europeans travelled to the region of the Levant in the aftermaths of the uprisings in 2012. While a one third has returned, many have died or disappeared, while others are stuck in detention camps without the prospect of return. Among them 400 European adults (mostly women) and 700 Children. Several reports have documented the very hazardous living conditions for the adults and children in particular. In 2019, more than 300 children have died in the camps of Al Hol. Yet the European countries have for the most refused a coordinated repatriation of their citizens, even though they are well aware of the hazardous living conditions and the difficulties the Kurdish authorities are facing.

In October 2020 we published an open letter signed by nearly two hundred academics demanding the repatriation of the European citizens. In it, we lay out the different arguments that justify such a repatriation. In this blog, we will keep you updated on the developments and give you some background information on this urgent question.