28 February 2019•Update: 28 February 2019
By Serife Cetin
BRUSSELS
A Belgian court on Thursday overturned a previous decision to repatriate two citizens formerly married to Daesh members in Syria.
An appeals court quashed a 2018 decision by a lower court that Belgian citizens Tatyana Wielandt, 26, and Bushra Abouallal, 25, would be allowed to return to the country as would their six children from camps currently controlled by the YPK/PKK terror group.
The lower court had also ruled that if the government did not implement the decision within 40 days, it would have to pay a daily compensation of €5,000 (nearly $5,700) per child of up to one million euros ($1.1 million).
The decision came on the heels of opposition to the earlier decision to bring the women back by Health Minister Maggie de Block, who is in charge of refugee and immigration affairs.
Following the verdict, Justice Minister Koen Geens said the government would aim to prevent children under 10 years old from being affected by the decision, adding that minors "shouldn’t be punished for the mistakes of their families."
