France needs to repatriate more children from Syrian camps: Save the Children

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – France must urgently do more to follow through with recent moves to recognise the rights of children stranded in camps in North East Syria, Save the Children said on Thursday.

France announced Thursday it had repatriated 40 children and 15 women from camps in northeast Syria, the third French repatriation this year.

This brings the number of French children who have returned home to 117 since 2019.

Also Russia recently repatriated 38 children from al-Hol.

The child rights organisation said that timing is crucial as more than 100 French nationals, including many children, still remain stranded in Al Hol and Roj camps and brace for bitter winter weather with nothing but tents to protect them from the elements.

“Of course, every repatriation is progress, but this is still achingly slow. In just two months, temperatures in North East Syria will be freezing, exposing French children and thousands more from other countries, to numerous health risks," Beat Rohr, Save the Children’s Interim Syria Country Director, said.

“Bringing home these children will ensure they can start to recover from their experiences and begin a normal life, which is impossible in overcrowded displacement camps with little access to basic services in a volatile area," she added.

About 11,000 foreign children and women remain in Roj and Al Hol camps, controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.