Russia repatriates 32 children from AANES areas in NE Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Russia, in agreement with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), repatriated 32 children of the families of the Islamic State group (ISIS) from Northeast Syria, a Russian diplomat said on Sunday.
In a press statement to RT Arabic, Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the President of Russia, said they repatriated 32 children, aged between 5 and 17, from refugee camps in northern Syria after an agreement with the AANES.
The 32 children included 12 boys and 20 girls, and they were received by Lvova-Belova at the Chkalovsky Russian military airbase near Moscow.
The AANES has yet to comment on the process.
Lvova-Belova pointed out that the total number of the Russian children who were repatriated from Northeast Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey amounted to 546.
Around 4,500 Russian citizens joined the ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Most survivors are now being in the Roj and Hawl camps that are run by the AANES and its security forces, known as the Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish), or in one of several prisons in Northeast Syria under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).