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Abdulkarim Omar (L), co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), meets with Martin Longden, the United Kingdom's special envoy to Syria, November 21, 2019. Photo: NES / social media
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The United Kingdom repatriated three orphaned British children from northern Syria on Thursday, according to British and Kurdish officials. The children were born to Islamic State (ISIS) affiliated parents killed in the conflict.
On Thursday, the Foreign Relations Department of the Kurdish-led administration of northern and eastern Syria (NES) announced the three orphans had been handed over to a British delegation headed by Martin Longden, the UK’s special envoy to Syria.
“We discussed many topics, including mainly the Turkish state’s occupation, demographic change, the condition of IDPs, and the need for these IDPs to return to their areas,” said Abdulkarim Omar, the Kurdish co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department, in a joint presser.
“Three British orphaned children, as a humanitarian case, were handed over to Britain,” he added.
In the summer of 2014, ISIS overran large swaths of Iraq and Syria, declaring a proto-state. Thousands of foreigners traveled from across Europe, the Americas, and Asia to build or fight for the so-called caliphate.
Many of these foreign fighters were killed or taken prisoner. Their wives and children were settled in overcrowded camps managed by Kurdish forces.
European countries, fearful their radicalized citizens could pose a security risk if they are permitted to return, have in many cases refused to take them back. Special dispensation has been given in the case of unaccompanied minors, however.
The United Nations children’s fund (UNICEF) has described the orphans of foreign fighters as the world’s most vulnerable children.
There are roughly 12,000 suspected ISIS fighters detained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, including some 2,000 foreigners. There are also around 70,000 women affiliated with the group and their children held in camps.
The process of child repatriation was making progress until early October when Turkey launched its long-planned incursion into the Kurdish controlled territories.
ISIS militants and their families exploited the resulting chaos and escaped from SDF camps and prisons in Ain Issa.
“I am very grateful to you and to your colleagues, and also to the local authorities in northeast Syria for the vital help that you have provided in enabling us to return the British children to the United Kingdom,” British envoy Longden said after signing the repatriation documents.
“The legacy of Daesh still creates victims, including actually the children of their own foreign fighters, and those children bear no responsibility for the situation that they now find themselves in,” Longden added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
He praised the SDF for its central role in the ground war against the jihadists.
“The British Government has no consular presence in northeast Syria, and the difficult circumstances on the ground make this kind of operation very challenging,” the British diplomat said.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab “is very clear” that Britain intends to bring back “unaccompanied” British orphans to the UK where possible, Longden added.
“So I anticipate that we will need to continue to rely upon your goodwill and practical assistance, for which I would like to reiterate our thanks.”
Foreign Secretary Raab issued a statement on Thursday concerning the repatriation.
“These innocent, orphaned children should never have been subjected to the horrors of war. We have facilitated their return home, because it was the right thing to do,” Raab said.
“Now they must be allowed the privacy and given the support to return to a normal life.”
Alison Griffen, head of humanitarian campaigns at Save the Children UK, praised the repatriation and urged the government to take back all remaining British children trapped in Syria.
“Today the UK government is transforming the lives of these innocent children who have been through terrible things that are far beyond their control. They will now have the precious chance to recover, have happy childhoods and live full lives. We should be proud of everyone who has worked to make this happen,” said Griffin.
“We fervently hope this is just the start. There are still as many as 60 British children that remain stranded in appalling conditions and Syria’s harsh winter will soon begin to bite. All are as innocent as those rescued today and our very real fear is that they won’t all survive to see the spring. They must all be brought home before it is too late,” Griffin added.
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