The dilemma of dealing with the kids of the Caliphate

They range in age from toddlers to teenagers and all will inevitably have been traumatised by what they have experienced. On the face of it, then, who wouldn’t want to show kindness to the children who, through no fault of their own, have grown up and been born in the Islamic State?

But as Commander Dean Haydon, the head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, warned last week, diligence must come before compassion in the way Europe deals with the hundreds of children waiting to return from Syria and Iraq. ‘We look at them on a case-by-case basis and they may be arrested’, said Haydon. ‘Some terror groups are training children to commit atrocities’.

Around 50 British children are believed to have grown up in the caliphate – one of whom, JoJo Jones, was the subject of a recent sentimental report in the Sunday Times – whereas an estimated 400 French youngsters have experienced life under the Islamic State.