The foreign ministry of France announced that nearly 450 French nationals that are linked to the Islamic state are currently detained in refugee camps or are held by Kurds in the north eastern part of Syria.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Foreign Minister, said, “In the northeastern zone of Syria, we think that there are between 400 and 450 French people, some in camps, others held as prisoners, including children.”
Minister Drian said that only children could be repatriated if they were orphans or if their mothers gave permission.
The country has insisted that its citizens that are being held in Syria or Iraw must face a local trial.
Minister Le Drian added, “Our position is still the same and we will not shift: fighters must be judged where they have committed crimes.”
On Tuesday, a court from Baghdad sentenced 2 men from France to death for joining the jihadist group, the numbers of French ISIS members on death row in Iraq have now raised to 6.
In 2 months, Paris has repatriated 5 orphans and a 3-year-old girl whose mother was handed a life imprisonment sentence in Iraq.
Minister Le Drian added that more than 100 fighters from France were still present in Idlib, which is the last stronghold of the Jihadist in the northwest part of Syria.
Idlib is currently being bombed by the troops of Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria.