The plane of the Defense Ministry for the first time after the introduction of restrictions due to the coronavirus landed at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow with Russian children taken from shelters in Damascus, the press service of the Commissioner for children's rights Anna Kuznetsova reported.
26 children returned home from Syria. During the flight, they were accompanied by doctors, and the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Health were followed at all stages of evacuation.
The children will be taken to one of the observational centers near Moscow and will be handed over to their relatives after the quarantine.
According to Kuznetsova, almost all Russian children were taken from Damascus, and the next stage is planned to be taken from the Syrian camp of Al-Hawl.
She added that the documents on their return from Syria were ready for 122 Russian children, and the flight for them would be organized in the near future.
A total of 157 children have already returned to Russia from war zones in the Middle East — 122 from Iraq and 35 from Syria. During the last flight to the SAR, Russian doctors took DNA samples from more than 70 orphans who are located in refugee camps that are not controlled by the official authorities of Damascus.
Children delivered from Syria will be sent to 8 regions
26 Russian boys and girls will go to 8 regions of the country under the care of their relatives, Anna Kuznetsova, the Presidential Commissioner for children's rights, told reporters on Tuesday.
According to her, before leaving to Moscow, they all waited for documents to be processed and transport restrictions to be lifted in shelters in Damascus.
"Upon their return to Russia, all of them will be placed under the care of their relatives and will go to 8 regions of the Russian Federation," the Ombudsman said. Among these subjects, she named Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria.
According to Kuznetsova, the age of Russian children delivered first after a break caused by restrictions due to the pandemic is from one to 15 years. "Most of them are between 2 and 6 years old," she said.
Russian experience
Kuznetsova said that Russia has shown the greatest effectiveness in returning its children to their homeland.
"Now Russia is one of the leaders in returning children and implementing this task. Today, many states are trying to do this, but so far the Russian experience is the most effective. So far, we have managed to return our children more than other countries," Kuznetsova said.
Based on the number of documented Russian children in the Arab Republic, another 3-4 export flights will be needed, the Ombudsman estimated.
According to her, almost all Russian children have already been taken out of Damascus. "There is still quite a bit left. Some of them had their DNA samples taken. Therefore, in the next visit, we will take these children," the Commissioner assured.
"We can't fully say 100% the number of children who are currently in camps [for refugees in Syria]. But we will not stop this program until we get everyone back, " Kuznetsova concluded.
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Photo: Dariusz Sankowski / Pixabay
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS