A European Guantanamo for Swedish children in Syria? A media analysis on the narrative of repatriation

Abstract

There are around 50 Swedish children interned in Syrian refugee camps due to their parents’ affiliation with the Islamic State. Swedish authorities have a strict policy towards repatriating individuals who have joined the terrorist organisation. Therefore, these individuals, along with their young children, are left in these camps. This is noteworthy since the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been enshrined in Swedish law since 2020 with the purpose of strengthening children’s rights. In this article, media narratives concerning these children and the process of repatriation are explored in relation to the CRC. The findings suggest that the media narrative contributes to the representation of a “new kind of child” that is both in danger and dangerous, a narrative configuration that may affect the public’s way of reacting to their situation.