BISHKEK (Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service) — At least 79 ISIS-related children have been returned from Iraq to their country, Kyrgyzstan. The special plane from Iraq landed today.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the humanitarian mission, which is aimed at rescuing children in an extremely dangerous situation for their lives and health, and who are entitled to state protection, is the first repatriation of this nature and scale.

The children were recovered with the consent of their mothers who stayed in Iraq, and the expression of willingness of their relatives in Kyrgyzstan to take care of the children and raise them. The government promises to assist the repatriated children and to take measures for their rehabilitation, reintegration and return to a safe and peaceful life as soon as possible.

The repatriation took place as part of the Meerim humanitarian mission. It was supported by the representative offices of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the cities of Bishkek and Baghdad and by the Kyrgyz Red Crescent.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that as part of a series of measures, including thorough preparations for repatriation, after lengthy negotiations with the Iraqi side, at the end of February 2021 an early working group was sent to Iraq to take appropriate measures to organise the return of the children to their homes.

Since Islamic State lost its last foothold in Syria in March 2019, many countries have resisted calls from the Kurdish-led forces running the camps to repatriate their citizens, arguing that they do not want to bring home people who chose to join a terrorist organisation. Some rights groups have lobbied for governments to bring back at least the children of their citizens, claiming that the minors did not choose to go to Syria or Iraq, and in many cases they were born there.

Yet only a small number were repatriated, often because they were orphans or needed vital medical care not available in Syria or Iraq.