Russian MFA hosts discussions on returning Russian children from Syria and Iraq

16 December 2019


Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Anna Kuznetsova co-chaired a meeting of the ad hoc working group at the Foreign Ministry. 


The participants reviewed the outcome of the humanitarian mission to repatriate all 122 Russian children who were found to be imprisoned or kept in orphanages in Iraq taken to that country illegally, with their mothers who have completed court proceedings on accusations of involvement with terrorist organisations.


Priority attention was paid on further steps to repatriate minor Russian nationals from Syria.


8 minor Russian nationals have been repatriated so far to the Russian Federation from a prison in Damascus.  DNA samples were collected from another 100 minors to establish whether they are related to their potential guardians in Russia.  The process is ongoing.

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

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