The Dutch state is bringing back a group of 12 Dutch jihadi brides and their children from Northern Syria so they can be tried in the Netherlands.

The group is already on its way to the Netherlands, broadcaster NOS said, and the women will be arrested on arrival. The children, 28 in all, will be taken into care, justice minister Dilan Yesilgöz and foreign affairs minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a briefing to MPs.

The move follows a decision in May last year by a Rotterdam court that the women and their children should be brought back and the women should face trial. ‘The cabinet wants to make sure that the twelve suspects do not escape punishment,’ the ministers said.

The special operation was carried out ‘following meticulous preparation’ the brief said, despite earlier doubts about the safety risks involved in bringing back the women.

In June 2021 Ilham B was the first of a group of Dutch women to be brought back from Syrian camps. She was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail for her part in promoting the Islamic state. In February another five women were brought back. Their cases are ongoing.

The cabinet is not giving out any information about the twelve remaining women for safety and privacy reasons, nor has it said what the women stand accused of.