Russia pioneering return of ‘IS children’

MOSCOW: As the end nears for the Islamic State enclave in Syria and the fate of jihadists’ family members becomes a pressing issue, Russia can be seen as a pioneer in systematically returning children of militants home.

A potential homecoming of the many women who have gone to live in the IS “caliphate” and their children, many of whom were born there, has been a subject of debate in Russia, with some security chiefs seeing them as threats. Earlier this month, 27 children, from 4 to 13 years old, were flown here from Iraq.

Clutching stuffed toys and bundled in winter jackets, the children were carried off the cargo plane to face the Russian winter after years in the desert.

After health exams, they would be given into the care of their uncles, aunts, and grandparents in the Russian North Caucasus, which is home to most of the Russians that joined IS.

Another 30 children were brought back in late December.

“They attend school and kindergarten. Volunteers work with them and talk to them about what they have been through, explaining how they have been indoctrinated,” said Kheda Saratova, an adviser to Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has assumed a central role in the repatriation process.

Russian authorities have given sometimes conflicting figures of returnees. Saratova said about 200 children have been brought to Russia, but nearly 1,400 are stuck in Iraq and Syria.

Kadyrov, a longtime Kremlin protege with vast resources, began efforts to bring back the fighters’ children in 2017.

Endorsing Kadyrov’s efforts, President Vladimir Putin called the drive to return the children “a very honourable and correct deed” and promised to help.

The children themselves face a difficult reintegration process into life in Russia, a country they barely know, after spending formative years in the “caliphate”.

Authorities hope that bringing them back into their extended families can minimise risks of radicalisation once they reach adulthood.