A 14-month-old boy born in Iraq to a German couple captured fighting for Islamic State has been allowed to return home to live with his grandparents.
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The boy, who has not been named under child protection laws, is the first of the so-called “Isil children” to be allowed to return to Germany.
He was born in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar after his parents met while fighting for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil), and has never before set foot on German soil.
German authorities believe he may be the first of more than 100 children born to Isil volunteers who could return home.
He was captured along with his parents by Iraqi forces last year, and released into the custody of his grandfather last month.
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His parents both remain in Iraqi custody, where they face possible terrorism charges over their involvement with Isil.
“Children cannot help what their parents did,” the boy’s grandfather, who asked not be named, told Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
“The boy doesn’t belong in prison, but in a normal life.”
The German foreign ministry confirmed the boy had entered the country but refused to give any further details or comment on the identity of his parents.
Süddeutsche Zeitung named his mother as Sibel H, a 30-year-old from Hesse who twice travelled to the Middle East to volunteer for Isil.
German authorities are said to have found a video of her first husband on her mobile phone, in which he fired a Kalashnikov and said: “You’re next, Merkel”.
After the death of her first husband, she remarried to the father of the boy. The newspaper named him as Deniz B from Frankfurt, who served as an Isil medic.
Although the boy was born abroad and has never been to Germany, he is entitled to German citizenship from his parents.
He was reportedly only released into his grandfather’s custody by Iraqi authorities after intensive diplomatic negotiations, and DNA tests to prove they were related.