UK starts bringing back IS children
Orphaned British children of Islamic State fighters have been taken out of Syria, in the first removal by the UK Government of nationals stranded in the war-torn country after the fall of the ‘‘caliphate’’.
The children, who were discovered last month in a camp for the relatives of members of IS, were picked up earlier this week and are due to be repatriated in the coming days, it is understood.
They lost their parents and older siblings in air strikes on the last patch of the jihadists’ territory, which fell to Kurdish led-forces in March.
The children are said to remember little of their lives before they left their home in the UK five years ago.
The is not revealing their identity for security reasons.
‘‘These innocent, orphaned children should never have been subjected to the horrors of war,’’ Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday.
‘‘We have facilitated their return home because it was the right thing to do. Now they must be allowed the privacy, and given the support, to return to a normal life.’’
The repatriation followed a visit by Martin Longden, UK Special Representative for Syria, to the Kurdish-held north-east. Britain has, until now, refused the return of its nationals from Syria and in some cases revoked their citizenship to thwart extradition, citing national security concerns.
The UK has faced pressure from the US, which has urged other members of the international coalition against IS to take responsibility for their citizens.
At least seven British men, 25 British women and more than 60 of their children are being held by the West-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
It is unclear if any more Britons will be repatriated, but
has been told the government would be likely to first assess the cases of three women, who have not had their citizenship revoked, and their 10 children.
More than three-quarters of the British children being held in SDF camps are aged under five and were likely born in the so-called caliphate, leaving them without documentation.
The government has reportedly been divided on repatriation of the IS children as Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, and Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, cited security concerns.
They and Raab are said to have agreed on the return of the orphans but Raab wants a more proactive approach.
The government has made clear
Foreign Secretary
‘‘These innocent, orphaned children should never have been subjected to the horrors of war.’’ Dominic Raab
it will try to prosecute any repatriated fighters, but it is notoriously difficult to find evidence of terrorist acts.
Britain has only managed to successfully prosecute a small number of the roughly 450 Britons who have returned.
Where there has not been enough evidence for charges, suspected fighters have been enrolled in the Home Office’s Desistance and Disengagement Programme – a branch of the controversial Prevent deradicalisation scheme.
Save the Children welcomed the news, but urged the government to bring home the other children. Alison Griffin, its head of humanitarian campaigns, said: ‘‘There are still as many as 60 British children in appalling conditions and Syria’s harsh winter will soon begin to bite.’’