Russia reaches deal with Syrian Kurds on DNA tests for children of ISIS fighters: TASS

A Russian official said that the examinations aim to identify Russian children and return them to their families.
Women look after children at the sprawling al-Hol displacement camp in northeastern Syria, Oct. 17, 2019 (AFP / Delil Souleiman)
Women look after children at the sprawling al-Hol displacement camp in northeastern Syria, Oct. 17, 2019 (AFP / Delil Souleiman)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Russia has reached an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to conduct DNA tests for children of ISIS fighters, Russia's state news agency TASS reported on Thursday.

The examinations aim to identify Russian children and return them to their families, Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova said during a meeting of the Interagency Coordinating Headquarters of the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic.

"We reached an agreement with the Kurdish side. We held negotiations following which we were permitted to take DNA tests from some children beginning in January and start taking them to Russia in small groups," she said according to the TASS report.

"It is very important for the children to really have a normal family, normal conditions, normal opportunities in terms of health, education," the ombudswoman noted.

On Dec. 16, Lvova picked up eight children of ISIS families from northeastern Syria, Abdul Karim Omar, the co-chair of AANES' (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria) Foreign Relations Department, recently confirmed on Twitter.

Moscow has worked actively to repatriate children from both Iraq and Syria. However, many still remain.

Read More:  Russia repatriates 34 orphans of ISIS families from Syria

Both the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the civilian AANES in northeast Syria have repeatedly called on foreign countries to repatriate their citizens.

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

Nevertheless, some countries have repatriated a number of children, including orphans from the area.