Samenvatting

Since the defeat of IS, about 120 Dutch foreign fighters and their families are still believed to be held in camps in Syria. The Dutch government, like many others, has been focusing on preventing them from returning to the Netherlands, i.e. their state of origin, in the interest of national security. The question arises however as to whether there is an obligation to repatriate them or not. An additional way of preventing them from returning lies in the current practice of deprivation of nationality, an instrument states are using to breach the nationality link that exists between them and the foreign fighters concerned. This article delves deeper into the obligation of repatriation and the legitimacy of deprivation of nationality as an additional measure to prevent them from returning.