Germany and Denmark have brought home 11 women and 37 children from a camp in northeastern Syria where suspected Islamic State members have been held, the German foreign ministry said Thursday.

Germany repatriated 23 children and their eight mothers from the Roj camp on Wednesday evening, while Denmark brought home 14 children and three women.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the children bear no responsibility for their situation and “it is right that we do everything to make possible for them a life in safety and a good environment.”

“The mothers will have to answer to criminal justice for their actions” and some were arrested on their arrival in Germany, Maas added in a statement.

He thanked Kurdish authorities in Syria, Denmark and “our American partners, who provided logistical support.”

German federal prosecutors said three women — whom it identified only as Solale M., Romiena S. and Verena M. in line with local privacy rules — were arrested on arrival at Frankfurt airport. They are accused of membership in a foreign terror organization, taking the children with them against their fathers’ will and violations of their duties of care and education.

Associated Press