UK to repatriate orphaned children of British Isis members from Syria
This is first time British citizens have been brought home from former Isis territory
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The UK is to repatriate orphaned children of British Isis members from Syria, the foreign secretary has announced.
The children, who cannot be identified for security reasons, will be the first British citizens to be brought back to the UK from territory formerly under the control of the terror group.
Some 25 British women and more than 60 of their children have been stranded in the country’s northeast since fleeing the Isis caliphate in its final days earlier this year. Most of them are under the age of five, meaning they would probably have been born in Isis territory.
The UK government has been reluctant to bring back its citizens over security concerns, but Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, said last month that it was looking into repatriating orphans and unaccompanied minors.
In a statement on Thursday, he said bringing home the children was “the right thing to do”.
“These innocent, orphaned children should never have been subjected to the horrors of war,” he added.
“Now they must be allowed the privacy and given the support to return to a normal life.”
The United Nations has previously called for all children of foreign Isis members to be repatriated to their home countries.
Some 70,000 women and children who fled the Isis caliphate in its last months are being held in camps by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mostly Kurdish militia that defeated the terror group with US and UK backing. The largest of those facilities is al-Hol camp, which is currently housing some 11,000 foreign citizens. The SDF is also holding hundreds of European Isis fighters.
A number of European countries have repatriated stranded children. France, Germany, Norway and Denmark have all brought a small number back, most of whom were orphans whose parents were killed during the caliphate’s final months. Australia also recently brought home eight children and grandchildren of two Australian nationals who fought for Isis.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments