The Netherlands has no intention of bringing back IS fighters despite US president Donald Trump’s call on European countries to do so, foreign minister Stef Blok has confirmed.

‘The Netherlands is not taking any IS fighters,’ Blok said in Brussels on Monday, where he was attending a meeting of other EU leaders. ‘The president’s comments will not lead to a change in our standpoint,’ Blok said.

Nor is handing them over to Iraq for trial an option because the country has the death penalty, Blok said. ‘The Netherlands will only work with that country when it abolishes the death penalty,’ broadcaster NOS quoted the minister as saying.

Trump this weekend said on Twitter that European governments should ‘step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing’ by taking the suspects back.

‘The Caliphate is ready to fall,’ he wrote. ‘The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them.’ The US-backed Kurdish group which run the camps has also said they may have to release their captives when the US pulls out of the region.

France and Germany are also reluctant to take back IS fighters. Around 900 foreign IS fighters plus some 700 women and 1,500 children are currently being held by the Kurdish Democratic Forces, according to news agency Reuters.

Conflict zone

The NRC said their number includes four Dutch men, eight women and 15 children. The Dutch security service AIVD estimates 315 Dutch nationals have travelled to the conflict zone since 2013.

There are, however, divisions within the Dutch cabinet about what to do. D66 leader Rob Jetten said at the weekend that the Netherlands has to enter talks on what to do with the IS fighters.

‘It would not be good for our safety if they come back to Europe under the radar,’ he said. The other three parties are in line with Blok, the NRC said.

Justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus is looking at what can be done to bring back women and children being held in the camps.