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Daan Weggemans discusses the reintegration of Syrian people in the Netherlands

Daan Weggemans, researcher at the Institute for Security and Global Affairs, discusses in the morning podcast of NU.nl whether the Netherlands is able to judge and guide the return of Syrian mothers and children.

The Syrians are mothers who demand that the Dutch state bring them and their children back to the Netherlands. In addition, two Dutch women and three children have checked themselves in at the Dutch embassy in the Tukste capital Ankara with the request to return to the Netherlands. When asked whether the Netherlands is currently able to bring the mothers and children to justice and guide them in the right way, Weggemans says the following: "the women's request is not a new request, but the large numbers in which these requests are received are new for the Netherlands. This will create various dilemmas for the Netherlands and practice will have to show what kind of dilemmas and persons it is about.''

In addition, Weggemans reports that when returning, it is necessary to look carefully at what kind of persons the mothers are. What social contacts did they have; what ideology do they maintain; and what practical living conditions did they live in? In addition, the women must be intrinsically motivated to reintegrate into the Netherlands, as they have been away for a long time. Altogether, Weggemans says that in recent years the Netherlands has had several encounters with returning Syrians, but never with such a large group at once and it has to become clear in practice what kind of people these mothers are and what kind of dilemmas this will bring.

Listen to the full segment (in Dutch): NU.nl

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