UK repatriates woman, 5 children of ISIS family members from Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) handed over on Dec. 9 a woman and five children of Islamic State (ISIS) family members to a delegation from the United Kingdom (UK).
A UK delegation, headed by UK Consulate General in Erbil, Catherine Shaw; conflict adviser in the UK government’s Stabilization Unit, Andy Scott; UK Foreign Office delegate, Nicola Moss; and UK office for Syria’s Affairs, visited areas in northeast Syria.
They were received by Robel Baho, Deputy Co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department, and Khaled Ibrahim, official at the Foreign Relations Department, along with the representative of Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), Lana Hussein.
A woman and five children of ISIS-related families holding British nationality were handed over to the delegation, according to a handover document between the two sides.
Baho praised the role the UK plays with the US-led Global Coalition in combating terrorism in coordination with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and stressed that the AANES-UK military, political and service relations should be developed.
He highlighted the indiscriminate attacks that the Turkish occupation is launching on separate areas in northeast Syria, and stressed that ISIS is the only beneficiary of these attacks.
The international community should urgently move to end the issue of ISIS family members and detainees in northeast Syria and to hold its responsibilities towards the AANES, according to the deputy co-chair.
For her part, Shaw said that her country is committed to her responsibilities with the SDF to ensure that the horror caused by ISIS previously not to happen again.
The UK will continue to provide relief aid to IDPs in northeast Syria, as the region is one of the main targets of UK’s humanitarian programmes, she added.
Additionally, Scott said that reaching a political solution in accordance with the UN Resolution 2254 is the only way to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the region.
“The Syrian regime and its backers are considered the biggest obstacles ahead of solving the Syrian crisis, according to Scott.