Dozens of relatives of Moroccan veterans held in prisons and refugee camps in Syria and Iraq held a sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The coalition called on the Moroccan authorities to intervene quickly to repatriate these people, starting with the children.
During the sit-in, demonstrators held up banners with phrases such as “What is the fault of children?”, “Children have the right to restorative justice”.
The families of the detainees denounced, during the rally, the living conditions of the children of the detainees in both countries, making known that they are transferred to prisons, “where they are subjected to savage practices.
According to data from the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) cited by EFE, a total of 663 people had left Morocco since 2011 to go to the Syrian-Iraqi area to fight in the ranks of various jihadist groups, including 1,062 in Daesh.
Of these, 747 died, 251 were arrested in Syria and Iraq, and 270 were returned to Morocco. Half of them were tried under a law that punishes “incorporation into conflict zones” with up to 10 years in prison.
A total of 291 women accompanied these Moroccans, many of whom had children once they settled in the area. About 100 of them returned to Morocco and, according to figures from a year ago, 136 women and 630 minors remained detained in the region, as only 82 of them returned.
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