A Moroccan human rights group has accused a US-backed Kurdish armed group, operating in Syria, of sending Moroccan women married to ISIS fighters to areas controlled by the terrorist organization. The Morocco-based Northern Observatory for Human Rights (ONERDH), said in a communiqué that it had received messages from «Moroccan women urging the Kingdom to intervene and stop the Syrian Democratic forces from handing them to ISIS». The Moroccan women who claim being married to ISIS fighters told the observatory that the measure is part of a prisoner exchange operation between the two bodies. The Observatory confirmed that «more than 35 pregnant women with about 50 of their children have been handed over in last couple of days to ISIS members, after being threatened by the Syrian Democratic forces». According to the press release, issued Saturday 2nd of June, the Moroccan women living in refugee camps controlled by the Syrian Democratic forces, «have urged the Moroccan authorities to intervene and bring them back to their country, especially as many nations have repatriated their nationals». Syria's Democratic Forces are a multi-ethnic and multi-religious alliance of predominantly Kurdish, but also Arab and Assyrian/ Syriac militias, as well as some smaller Turkmen, Armenian, Circassian and Chechen groups backed by the United States of America. A letter to the Red Cross On May the 11th, the Morocco-based Northern Observatory for Human Rights sent a letter to the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross to inform him about the situation of Moroccan women and their children in Syria's refugees' camps. The observatory said at the time that it was taking note of the situation of the 200 women in Syria, who are hoping to go back to their country of origin. The letter stressed that the Morocco-based Northern Observatory for Human Rights had «received SOS calls from some women and their families in Morocco because there were told they will be sent to either the Iraqi authorities to be prosecuted for terrorism or to ISIS, putting their lives in jeopardy». The observatory asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to reach the Syrian democratic forces and the Moroccan authorities to find a solution to the problem. The same observatory also sent a letter on April 25 to the Syrian Democratic Forces urging them to coordinate with the Moroccan authorities to help these women and their children leave the camps for Morocco. For the record, in January, Moroccan fighters training and fighting in Syria have expressed their wish of returning home. Establishing a body called «The Association of Moroccans in Syria», these jihadists want to negotiate their potential return to Morocco.
