Kyrgyzstan brings back wives, children of IS militants
Thousands, including from Muslim-majority countries in Central Asia, joined jihadist groups like Islamic State (IS) at the height of the Syrian war from 2013 and 2015.
BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (AFP) - Kyrgyzstan repatriated around 20 women and children from Syrian camps Friday in the Central Asian state's latest mission to return those stranded by the collapse of the Islamic State group.
Thousands, including from Muslim-majority countries in Central Asia, joined jihadist groups like Islamic State (IS) at the height of the Syrian war from 2013 and 2015.
Many militants and their family members are now held in detention centres or are stuck in displacement camps, often in dire conditions as countries concerned about security threats resist calls for their repatriation.
"On 19 July, 2024, another humanitarian mission was carried out to repatriate citizens of Kyrgyzstan staying in refugee camps in the north east of Syria," Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry said.
"As a result, 22 citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic -- eight women and 14 children -- were safely brought back to their homeland," it said.
The United States, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other international bodies helped carry out the operation, it added.
More than 500 Kyrgyz citizens have been repatriated since 2021, most of whom need to be rehabilitated before reintegrating into Kyrgyzstan's officially secular society, according to authorities.
The issue of whether to repatriate the families of jihadists is also a sensitive issue in European countries, many of which refuse to let citizens linked to Islamist groups return.
