Families seek repatriation of Moroccans held in Syria

Members of the national coordination of families of Moroccans detained and stranded in Syria and Iraq, held a demonstration to demand their repatriation, in front of the Moroccan Parliament in Rabat.

Most of those stranded are accused of traveling to join the Islamic State (IS) group.

The family members are now calling for the Moroccan government to help in their repatriation.

"We are here today, in a sit-in of awareness in front of the parliament, to direct the eyes of the Moroccan authorities and the public opinion towards the suffering that our sons live in the camps and prisons, especially after the last events in the prison of Ghwayran (in Syria) where several detainees died, including Moroccans," SAID Meriem Zabroune, Secretary-General of the National Coordination of Moroccans Detained and Blocked in Iraq and Syria.

"My son left in 2015. He's been in prison for four years, and he just entered his fifth year. His condition is serious. He left three children here," said Roquia, mother of a Moroccan jihadist held in Syria

Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces have denounced "the miserable and disastrous situation in the detention camps of Roj and Al-Hol, where hundreds of Moroccan women and children are housed."