For the first time, two children of Syrian fighters will be able to come to Belgium. The government instructed the Belgian diplomatic service in Turkey to issue the necessary travel documents to two girls, two- and four-year-old, the office of Maggie De Block (Open VLD), Minister of Asylum and Migration, confirmed to the Mediahuis group newspapers.
They are the daughters of Amina Ghezzal (29), originally from Beverlo (Beringen). The mother had fled from Syria with her children at the end of 2017. She is now imprisoned in Turkey, where she was sentenced to 10 years maximum imprisonment. The girls being born in Syria and without a Belgian birth certificate, have been held up in Turkey for the past year. Their father, jihadist Abdelkarim Elouassaki, died in Syria.
Last month, a Brussels court ordered the Belgian State to issue identity documents for the girls, under penalty of a fine.
Belgium is still negotiating with Kurdish authorities in northern Syria for the return of six other children. At this time, it is believed that some 115 children of Belgian fighters are in Syria and Iraq.
The Brussels Times
