French mother sues government

PARIS: A French mother took the government to court on Tuesday for failing to stop her teenage son from leaving the country to join Jihadists in Syria.
The boy, identified only as “B”, was 16 when he left with three others from the town of Nice in southern France on December 27, 2013, giving no warning to his family.
A recent convert to Islam, he took a plane to Turkey before continuing by land to Syria. His mother, who spoke to him recently by phone, says he is still there.
The family’s lawyer, Samia Maktouf, said Turkey was “notorious as the route to enter Syria”.
“The police have committed a grave error ... concerning this unaccompanied minor, who had a one-way ticket to Turkey with no baggage,” Maktouf said.
The mother is seeking damages of 110,000 euros ($120,000) from the government for her and her three other children.
“It’s not the money that we are interested in, but we want it known that an error was made. The departure of minors for jihad must stop,” Maktouf said. In France, teens can have sex at 15 but only get a vote in national elections at 18.