Drawing empirical insights from NGOs working on statelessness, repatriation, and children’s rights relating to children residing in al-Hol and Roj camps in North-East Syria, I explore critiques of UK government decision-making concerning repatriation amid unprecedented use of citizenship deprivation powers affecting ISIS-associated children which has enforced parent-child separation. A policy gap is created where children are unable to be returned
with caregivers if citizenship is deprived. Adoption of a case-by-case approach rather than coherent policy response to repatriation prolongs children’s detainment within insecure camps. Using a critical race lens, I advance theoretical understanding of spatio-temporal logics of (in)securitisation within the context of counter-terrorism policies affecting British children in NES camps through convergence of violent conflict, citizenship deprivation, and state failure to repatriate. A children’s right approach to repatriation decision-making is
required to ensure British children’s safe return and right to family.