The government has organised a massive repatriation of those fighting alongside the Islamic State, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, and they are studying “all options”.
Even mainstream conservative party the Republicains, are refusing the return of these prisoners, calling for their “elimination”, reported LCP. The Syrian Democratic Forces held 130 French jihadists but decided to hand them over to France, but “they will immediately be handed over to justice,” the ministry said.
“These people have voluntarily joined a terrorist organisation, which fights in the Middle East, and have committed attacks in France and continue to threaten us,” added the spokesman of the Quai d’Orsay.
Detained in camps in Syria under the supervision of the Kurds, the 130 concerned will have to return to France, because the authorities of the country fear they will lose track of them after the withdrawal of the American soldiers from Syria.
Repatriation will take place by plane. Questioned on the issue, Christophe Castaner assured that “all those who return to France will face the law and be entrusted to judges” and if necessary “they will be put in prison,” continued the Interior Minister, adding also that “some have already returned”.
The Interior Minister claimed that the returnees were “French before being jihadists”.
His statement that was particularly badly received on Twitter, especially by the National Rally (RN). The RN MEP Nicolas Bay rebelled against the “irresponsible attitude” of Castaner, while the president of the group RN Burgundy Franche-Comté, Julien Odoul, said that “those who carried arms against France must be excluded of the national community”.
Marine Le Pen said they should no longer be regarded as French citizens, but as jihadists.
« Ce sont d’abord des Français avant d’être des djihadistes. »
Non @CCastaner ! 😡
Ce sont des djihadistes, ils ne devraient donc plus être Français. MLP https://t.co/OQQSYjJslO
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) January 29, 2019
To date, more than 500 people have been detained in France on suspicion of jihadism. According to BFMTV, French prisons have become “impervious” to integration. Each case of the 130 newcomers will be examined and judged individually.
As soon as they have set foot on French soil, those who are not the subject of an international arrest warrants will be handed over to the anti-terrorist police and put on trial. Those, on the contrary, who are already wanted, will be immediately brought before the judge. They will then be held in pre-trial detention pending a trial.