Belgium seeks to bring back children stranded by IS

BRUSSELS: The mass retreat of the Islamic State group from its territories in Syria and Iraq has left Europe grappling with the risk of foreign fighters returning home.

But in Belgium, authorities are also turning their attention to repatriating children stranded in the war zones.

With an estimated 500 citizens who have reached or attempted to reach the conflict zones, Belgium has the highest number of Jihadists per capita in the EU.

The government has said there are at least 100 Belgian children under 12 years currently in Syria, who were either born there or were taken to the country with an adult.

In May, a Belgian Jihadist took his three-year-old daughter to Syria without the knowledge of her mother, despite being under electronic surveillance. Justice Minister Koen Geens said the children are usually brought home via Turkey under the protection of Belgian police officers.

He revealed that Belgium and Nato partner Turkey had set up a gathering point on Turkish territory for those children wanting to come back, usually but not necessarily with their mothers.

"Fourteen children have returned," said Interior Minister Jan Jambon, "11 of them under six years old.

" The flow of foreign fighters to the conflict zone has partly reversed since the IS group’s self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria began crumbling in the last year under assault from regional, US-backed and other foreign-backed forces.