They are no less than 1,137 Moroccans, jihadists and their families, still detained in camps in northern Syria, according to the EFE news agency, which refers to statements by the director of the Central Office. judicial investigations (BCIJ, under the DGST) Moroccan Haboub Cherkaoui.
” For us, these people represent a danger, as they have accumulated training and experience in gang warfare, handling weapons, making explosives and car bombs, as well as propaganda and indoctrination. “, He explained in a video that the agency released and which turns on a loop.
According to figures from the BCIJ -2015-, a total of 1654 fighters left Morocco to go to the Syrian-Iraqi zone to fight in the ranks of various jihadist groups, including 1060 within the so-called Islamic State (IS) . The boss of the BCIJ, said that the return of these people who joined the so-called Islamic State (IS) or other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq constituted “a great challenge for security, not only for Morocco but also for the rest of the countries “.
Of the total number of combatants, 745 died in these areas, and 270 returned to their country of origin, the majority being tried thanks to a reform of the Penal Code approved in 2015 to sanction ” incorporation in conflict zones in the name of jihad With sentences ranging from five to ten years in prison. Along with the jihadists, 288 Moroccan women traveled, many of whom had children once in the so-called “caliphate” since razed to the ground. About a hundred of them have returned and today, and an estimated 189 women and 309 children remain in detainee camps in Syria and live in conditions ” harsh and inhumane Because of the lack of food and drinking water and also because of the insecurity that reigns in these camps.
The first official in the fight against terrorism in Morocco declared that those who had chosen to return had first been the subject of an investigation and that they were now benefiting from socio-economic programs to facilitate their social reintegration and that of their children. In March 2019, Morocco had repatriated eight of its nationals from the territory of the “caliphate”, in coordination with the United States, an ally of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which then defeated Daesh and destroyed the last stronghold of this group in the Syrian city of Al Baguz. It was there, the last initiative of an organized return indicated Haboub Cherkaoui.
The Moroccan Parliament formed a commission which has since studied the case of the parents and orphans of the jihadists in Syria and Iraq, and the possibilities of their repatriation. For Haboub Cherkaoui, the management of this issue of returnees is a political decision that must be taken ” as part of the existing international coalition “. Indeed, it is estimated that 22,000 minors and 45,000 foreign women of different nationalities are detained in the Al Hol camp (northeastern Syria).
