AMSTERDAM — People had told Houssein throughout his life that there is nothing more beautiful than becoming a grandfather, but now when he sees a grandfather walking down the street with his grandchildren, he only feels aggrieved over his own loss. Houssein's grandchildren are among the hundreds of European children born in Iraq and Syria in areas formerly controlled by the Islamic State (IS). He has never seen them.
“What did they go through? Do they need medical care? Do they have enough food? These are questions that are constantly going through my mind,” Houssein, a Dutch citizen of Moroccan descent, told Al-Monitor. “My daughter might have made a barbaric decision by joining a terrorist organization, but her children did not have a choice. They were simply born in the wrong place.”
