02/20/2020 Syria (International Christian Concern) –  The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria has announced that with the support of the Finnish Government, a special court will be established next month that will try foreign ISIS members. This announcement, while anticipated, comes after months of deadlock as many foreign governments have refused to bring their citizens who joined ISIS home for trial.

This special court will try the members, but it is not clear what will happen to them if they are convicted. Finland has volunteered to take the lead in negotiating this issue with European countries. Exact numbers vary, but it is estimated that there are 4,000 ISIS-affiliated foreign women and 9,500 foreign children being held by the Kurdish administration. They are representative of an estimated 53 different countries. The Kurdish administration has already tried an estimated 1,000 local ISIS fighters and the record of sentencing varies. Front-line ISIS fighters can face up to 20-years in prison, whereas someone coerced into working for ISIS can face a much shorter sentence. They will be credited with time served in detention camps.

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