UN urges countries to repatriate 27,000 children from Syria

CAMEROON, CAMEROON–
The U.N. counterterrorism chief is advising nations to repatriate the 27,000 kids stranded in a huge camp in northeastern Syria, a lot of them children and children of Islamic State extremists who when managed big swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Vladimir Voronkov informed a casual conference of the U.N. Security Council on Friday that “the horrific situation of the children in Al Hol (camp is one of the most pressing issues in the world today.”

The 27,000 kids “remain stranded, abandoned to their fate,” susceptible to be victimized by Islamic State enforcers, “and at risk of radicalization within the camp,” he stated.

Al Hol, the biggest camp for refugees and displaced Syrians in the nation, is presently house to practically 62,000 locals, according to U.N. humanitarian authorities. More than 80% are ladies and kids, lots of who got away there after Islamic State militants lost their last Syrian fortress in 2019. There are a variety of other camps in the northeast also.

Voronkov stated there are kids from 60 nations in the camps who are the duty of their member states, not of Syria or the groups that manage the camps. Kurdish fighters are safeguarding Al-Hol and other camps in addition to countless Islamic State fighters and kids in jails.

He stated a variety of nations– consisting of Russia and Kazakhstan that assembled the virtual conference– “have collectively repatriated nearly 1,000 children and their family members.”

Voronkov stated the experiences of the returnees are being assembled “and what we see thus far is that fears of security risks have been unfounded.”

The executive director of the U.N. Counterterrorism Center worried that kids “must be treated primarily as victims” and children under the age of 14 must not be apprehended or prosecuted.

History has actually revealed that kids are durable and can recuperate from violent experiences if they are supported in reintegrating into neighborhoods, Voronkov stated.

“Every effort should be made to ensure children are not kept in institutions but allowed to reintegrate with family members within their communities,” he stated.

Virginia Gamba, the U.N. unique agent for kids and armed dispute, informed the Security Council that kids catalogued as being connected with armed groups consisting of the Islamic State and al-Qaida “are the children who have been left adrift by conflict, like flotsam in the sea.”

She echoed Voronkov’s call that they be dealt with “primarily as victims, not as security threats, and that detention be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period.”

The psychological health, security and total advancement of foreign kids held for a long period of time “in dramatic conditions” in camps in northeast Syria and Iraq “are at stake,” Gamba stated.

“They’re exposed to further trauma and stigmatization and are at risk because of their proximity to members of designated terrorist groups,” she stated.

Children have a right to a citizenship and identity and need to not stay stateless, Gamba worried.

Gamba stated the repatriation of foreign kids must be focused on “with the best interest of the child,” and they need to be helped in reintegrating and getting an education, healthcare and tasks.

“They must be given their childhood back in a safe environment where they can build a future away from violence,” Gamba stated. “They deserve a chance at life, like any other child.”