In early June, two Austrian children were rescued from a Kurdish detention camp in Syria and transferred to Austria. Upon their arrival, they were reunited with their loved ones. Speculation as to whether these could be the children of Maria G. from Salzburg have since been eliminated: these are not the children of the Austrian who traveled to Syria in 2014.
In recent days, suspicions have been swirling whether the children recently brought to Austria could belong to Maria G., who traveled to Syria. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide exact information on Tuesday. Maria G. from Salzburg converted to Islam at the age of 17 and then joined Islamic State (IS). In 2019, her children’s Austrian citizenship was confirmed by a DNA test.
Now it has become known: the two children who were rescued from a Syrian camp in early June came from an Austrian father, who probably died in Syria, and a non-Austrian mother. The Ö1-Mittagsjournal reports this on Wednesday. The mother may have consented to the separation of the children.
Each query requires an individual inquiry
Maria G.’s lawyer, Doris Hawelka, then intervened and demanded that her client be returned: “Maria is understandably becoming increasingly desperate as she finds on the spot that almost all EU countries are returning their citizens. The current query shows that it is possible.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that about ten other people of Austrian nationality are in Syrian camps. Each interrogation is assessed on a case-by-case basis, assessing both the need for protection and the assessment of a potential threat to public security.
The situation is getting more critical
An increasing threat in northeast Syria is represented by an imminent invasion of Turkey into the Kurdish areas. In an interview with Ö1, Middle East expert Thomas Schmidinger warned of the devastating consequences of such a Turkish attack: “Of course, an orderly repatriation is then not possible (…). Children can also be killed in such combat operations.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
