ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Russian delegation repatriated nine orphaned children affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) families from northeast Syria (Rojava) on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Kurdish administration’s foreign office.
Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of Rojava’s foreign office, said in a tweet on Wednesday that nine Russian orphaned children “from ISIS families” were handed over to a committee from Russia’s commission for children rights.
The children are aged between five to 16. This is the eighth batch of repatriation of ISIS-affiliated children to Russia. Since 2018, 244 children have been repatriated to Russia, Abir Ilina, Omar’s deputy, announced during a joint press conference with the Russian delegation.
“We thank Russia for the humanitarian work it is doing. However, a radical solution [to the issue] will not be achieved only through child repatriation,” she added.
ISIS controlled swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014. When the group was territorially defeated by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the global coalition against ISIS in 2019, thousands of ISIS fighters and their family members were arrested and moved to camps and prisons.
Most of the children and women were taken to al-Hol camp in Hasaka. The notorious camp currently holds about 56,000 people - most of them are ISIS-affiliated. Children make up the majority of the camp’s residents.
Rojava and US officials and commanders have called on the international community several times to repatriate their citizens but only a few of them have responded positively.
ISIS attacked al-Sina’a prison in Hasaka city’s Ghweran neighbourhood late January with explosive-laden vehicles and other weapons. It controlled the prison but the building was retaken by the SDF after more than a week-long fighting.
Days after the attack, the SDF called on the international community to accelerate the repatriation of their citizens.
