Iraqi FM, ICRC discuss return of ISIS-linked children

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Bahrain on Friday to discuss the repatriation of ISIS-linked women and children.

The minister “touched on the government's efforts to end the case of the children of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) families, return them to their countries, and coordinate with a number of countries, including Russia, to end this important humanitarian issue,” read a statement from the foreign ministry. 

More than 30,000 Iraqis are estimated to be in Syria’s al-Hol camp, home to thousands of ISIS-linked women and children. The camp is also home to 25,000 Syrians, and many women and children from Europe and further afield. 

Foreign governments are mostly reluctant to repatriate their citizens, however. 

Russia evacuated 27 children from the camp in October, and also repatriated 26 children in August and 15 in September.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue Forum, hosting debates on “pressuring security challenges in the Middle East.”

Hussein also called on the ICRC to monitor the humanitarian situation of the displaced and provide them with necessary assistance  in light of recent camp closures in Iraq, which humanitarian organizations have warned leaves thousands vulnerable.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Displacement Tracking Matrix estimates that of the 436 households that left Anbar, Baghdad, Diyala and Karbala between 18-30 October, 45 per cent have become secondarily displaced in other non-camp locations.

Baghdad is also interested in dealing with the wives of ISIS militants, the statement added. 

According to a report from the International Crisis Group, Family members of alleged ISIS fighters face tremendous difficulties in renewing civil documents, or in the case of children, acquiring documentation in the first place.