UK repatriates three children from northeast Syria: AANES official

“On 18 October, three British children from ISIS families were handed over to a delegation representing the UK Office of Foreign Affairs."
The Kurdish-led civilian administration in northeast Syria handed over three children to a UK delegation on Monday. (Photo: Abdulkarim Omar/Twitter).
The Kurdish-led civilian administration in northeast Syria handed over three children to a UK delegation on Monday. (Photo: Abdulkarim Omar/Twitter).

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish-led civilian administration in northeast Syria handed over three children from Islamic State (ISIS) families to a British delegation on Monday. The children will be returned to the United Kingdom.

On 18 October, three British children from ISIS families were handed over to a delegation representing the UK Office of Foreign Affairs according to an official repatriation document signed by the two sides,” Abdulkarim Omar, co-head of foreign relations for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, tweeted.

According to a report of Save the Children in September, the UK previously repatriated four children “with about 60 believed to remain there.”

Save the Children blamed some EU member states and the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, for not having done enough to repatriate their citizens.

In September 2020, the UK repatriated a 4-year-old British orphan from northeast Syria.

Read More: UK repatriates orphaned, 4-year-old British girl from northeast Syria

Also, in November 2019, the UK government repatriated a number of orphaned children whose parents were affiliated to ISIS in Syria.

 The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the civilian Autonomous Administration in northeast Syria have publicly called on foreign countries to repatriate their citizens.

Several Western countries have been reluctant to repatriate their citizens due to legal and security risks and domestic opposition to the repatriation of ISIS suspects.