Decision made

Court decides: Repatriation of IS supporter

The woman from Hallein lives with her sons in a camp similar to this one.

(Bild: AP)

On Friday, the Federal Administrative Court ruled on the repatriation of an IS supporter from Salzburg and her two children. The young woman had already been brought back to Austria in June. However, the Austrian Foreign Ministry refused to allow her to do so.

The decision has now been made in the case of Maria G: The Federal Constitutional Court ordered the return of the young woman from Salzburg, as the family's lawyer Doris Hawelka announced in a press release. The Austrian Foreign Ministry had previously refused to allow them to return from a detention camp in a Kurdish-controlled part of northern Syria. Maria G. has been living under the rule of the Islamic State (IS) for ten years. 

"Unlawful" decision in the trial in June
At the time, the family approached the Foreign Ministry to request the return of their daughter and grandchildren. However, the ministry only agreed to bring the children to Austria, but not their mother. The decision was "unlawful, especially for G's two sons", said lawyer Doris Hawelka at the end of June. 

The identity of the two boys had already been proven at the time with a DNA test and they are considered Austrian citizens. However, G. and her parents refused to return without their daughter, citing the welfare of the children.

On June 28, 2014, the woman traveled from Salzburg to Turkey. She was only 17 years old at the time. The journey took G. on to Syria, where she joined the terrorist organization Islamic State. There she gave birth to two children of two fighters of the IS terrorist militia. Five years ago, she was finally captured during fighting against IS and has been living in a Kurdish detention camp since September 2020.

Women of IS fighters (in the background) guarded by a security guard in the al-Hol camp in Syria.

(Bild: AFP)

Ministry: Departure was voluntary
After further efforts by her parents were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and ultimately failed, Hawelka finally submitted a formal application for repatriation and, in September 2023, obtained a ruling from the Federal Administrative Court that the Foreign Ministry had to issue a decision instead of informal refusals.

The decision was negative in October 2023: The woman had voluntarily joined the terrorist militia IS despite the travel warning. Conclusion: "There is therefore clearly a particularly high degree of personal culpability." At the hearing before the Federal Administrative Court at the end of June 2024, a representative of the Foreign Ministry emphasized that the repatriation of G. was not a task of the ministry and that the safety of the consular authorities' staff should also be taken into account in the event of possible assistance. Furthermore, Maria G. had left the country voluntarily, despite a travel warning.

Right to the best interests of the child not sufficiently taken into account
The family's lawyer Doris Hawelka said in the run-up to the decision that the focus should be on the best interests of the child. The mother was the children's only remaining caregiver and the sons were severely traumatized by their previous lives and the circumstances in the camps. "This last support should not be taken away from them - also with a view to integration in Austria."

Between 2019 and 2022, four children have already been returned to Austria from camps in northern Syria via Iraq. In one case, the mother was dead; in the second, the mother remained behind in the detention center.

She is aware that there are criminal proceedings in Austria. It is completely undisputed in jurisprudence that traveling to the territory of IS in order to live there is considered an act of contribution. But there is no evidence that she took part in combat operations and acts of violence.

Anwältin Doris Hawelka über ihre Mandantin Maria G.

Hawelka appealed against the decision of the Foreign Ministry - with success: "A joint return to Austria must be brought about," she explained on Friday. Due to the exceptional circumstances in the camp in northern Syria, which endangered the life and physical integrity of the woman and her children, and taking into account the best interests of the child, the Federal Administrative Court came to the conclusion that G. should be repatriated due to the positive obligation to grant the right of entry.

"The Federal Administrative Court followed the argument that the Foreign Ministry had not yet sufficiently taken into account the - constitutionally guaranteed - right to the best interests of the child," said Hawelka. The consideration of the best interests of the two minors also argued in favor of the mother's return.

The lawyer had already obtained the revocation of an international arrest warrant against G., which had been in place since 2015. According to the Ministry of Justice, it was not possible to extradite the young woman because there is no corresponding agreement with Syria or the Kurdish regional administration that runs the camp.

Prison-like conditions prevail in the IS camps - this also motivated Maria G. to return to Austria (symbolic image).

(Bild: AFP)

Maria G.: Severely traumatized by accident
At the trial at the end of June, the parents of the IS supporter were questioned as witnesses. They testified that they only communicated with their daughter sporadically via audio messages on WhatsApp, most recently at the beginning of June. Maria G. had had a difficult childhood, she had been severely traumatized as a 12-year-old by an accident in an amusement park and had subsequently received psychological care for years.

She then met a migrant from Somalia through a family therapist and came into contact with Islam. In December 2013, the then teenager converted. According to her parents, she occasionally went to mosques in Salzburg.

My impression of her was that she seemed very intimidated and a bit desperate.

Politikwissenschaftler Thomas Schmidinger

Prison-like conditions in the IS camp
Apparently, Maria G. was beginning to have doubts. The conditions in the IS camps were difficult, with a lack of medical care in particular. This is a particularly difficult situation for her two sons. At the end of June, political scientist Thomas Schmidinger reported as an invited witness on an encounter with Maria G from Salzburg and tried to explain why G. converted to Islam and traveled to Syria just a few months before she disappeared from Austria.

According to his statements, she was worried that her children would be brutalized in the camp and would not be able to attend school. The woman therefore wanted to return to Austria, even if she was threatened with criminal proceedings for membership of a terrorist organization. This is because the conditions are already similar to detention and there is no end in sight.

The political will is sufficient for repatriation. For example, US troops on the ground would offer their help to other states. In an initial statement on Friday, the Foreign Ministry pointed out that the issue concerned "legal questions of fundamental importance" on which there was as yet no supreme court case law.

"It is currently being thoroughly analyzed by experts in the Foreign Ministry together with the Financial Procurator's Office. Further steps are being examined." If an appeal is declared admissible, the decision of the Federal Administrative Court can be contested within six weeks.