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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Norwegian orphan whose parents were affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) has been handed over to a delegation from the Nordic country, an official from northeast Syria (Rojava) said on Tuesday.
“An orphaned Norwegian child from ISIS families was handed over to a delegation representing the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs” on Monday, the co-chair of Rojava’s foreign relations commission Abdulkarim Omar said in a tweet.
Omar did not disclose which camp the child was taken from.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters along with their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Most of these people are held at al-Hol and Roj camps.
A total of 40,000 children from 60 different countries were living in dire conditions in both Roj and al-Hol camps, Save the Children warned in a report in late September.
Seventy-three crimes have taken place in al-Hol since the beginning of this year, killing 79 people including children, a conflict monitor reported on Sunday.
Kurdish and US officials have made repeated calls on the international community to repatriate their nationals from the camps, where children are exposed to ISIS ideology, but only a few countries have responded positively. Most are worried about security concerns and are generally limiting repatriations, even for children.
A group of 194 people from 48 families left al-Hol camp earlier this month. In October, eleven Swedish nationals and three British children were repatriated from the camp.
There are fears that al-Hol camp is a breeding ground for terrorism, with the commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) warning in April that the situation “will become a military problem” in the future if not resolved.
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