“Pleased we have been able to bring home a British child from Syria,” tweeted British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. “As I have said previously, we assess each case carefully. Safely facilitating the return of orphans or unaccompanied British children, where possible, is the right thing to do.”
Sky News first reported the story, stating that a repatriation team left Syria with the child on Tuesday and the mission was led by Martin Longden, UK special representative for Syria.
The Foreign Office declined to comment on individual cases, with the foreign secretary saying, “These are children who have experienced the worst horrors of war and bringing them home is the right thing to do.”
Sky News reported the UK has brought home a small number of British children from Syria, but more are believed to be sheltering in camps in northeastern Syria (Rojava). British charity Save the Children estimates there as many as 60 British children in Syria.
Children are among thousands of alleged supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) being held in al-Hol camp since early 2019, “in squalid living conditions with meagre prospects of exiting or returning to their home country,” the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria stated in a report released Tuesday.
Conditions in the camp have worsened under the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission noted. The prolonged situation is having “a significant psychological impact, particularly on children and Yazidi survivors,” the Commission stated. “At least 75 unaccompanied third-country national children across the Al-Hawl and Al-Roj camps are particularly vulnerable.”
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