Three of the four parents arrested a week ago in the town of Huizen after the secret service said they were planning to go to Syria have been released from jail.

A court on Thursday said there is not enough evidence to warrant keeping the two women and one man in custody. A 34-year-old man, named in the Telegraaf as Mourad M, was not released and will be held for a further 14 days.

Child safety experts are now deciding what to do with their six children – a girl aged eight months and five boys up to the age of nine. The children were split up and sent to foster families after their parents were arrested last Friday evening.

Neighbourhood

‘Will they go home, to their family and how will their neighbourhood deal with the issues?’ Huizen mayor Fons Hertog asked at a meeting at the town hall on Thursday night.

Even though three of the four people arrested have been released, this does not mean the case is closed and they will not face charges, Hertog pointed out.

The public prosecution department alleges M’s Dutch convert wife Engelina and their five sons were planning to move to Syria in the very short term. The other couple, also said to be converted Europeans by the Telegraaf, had similar plans, the department claims.