Denmark repatriates orphaned baby from Syria

"He arrived at the Copenhagen airport before lunch with his grandfather and one of his aunts who picked him up in a third country, neighbouring Syria," lawyer Tyge Trier told AFP.

According to local press reports, his mother was of Somali origin but born in Denmark.

She had travelled to Syria a few years ago and "lost her life on March 19 in Syria in a bomb attack in an IS-controlled area".

The child, the first Syria orphan to have been returned to Denmark, had stayed at the Al-Hol camp in the northeast of the country.

The toddler was malnourished but has recently regained weight.

"I held him (at the airport) and he is quite small but under the circumstances he's okay," the lawyer said.

His grandparents, who are Danish citizens, will now take care of him.

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The boy's father is also dead but had no connection to Denmark.

Controlled by Kurdish forces, the Al-Hol camp hosts nearly 70,000, including thousands of women affiliated with IS.

Danish authorities say 12 Danish nationals and 30 children whose parents are or were Danish are in the camp or in the Al-Roj camp.

In early September, Denmark's justice minister said 36 jihadists from Denmark where in the region. Of these, ten had residence permits that have been withdrawn.

In October, Denmark's parliament also passed a law which allowed the government to strip dual nationals, who had left to fight, of their Danish citizenship without the need for a court decision.

The immigration ministry is reviewing four such cases.

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