LONDON (Dispatches) – The UK has fallen far behind other countries in its efforts to repatriate the militants and terrorists from its country from Kurdish-run camps in northeastern Syria.
The issue of the repatriation of foreigners, often with links to Daesh terrorist group, from Kurdish-run camps in northern Syria has long been a fraught one.
According to new data released by Rights & Security International (RSI), since June 2021 a total of 206 children and 76 women have been repatriated by Albania, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ukraine.
The U.S. and a number of other countries - including Kazakhstan and North Macedonia - had repatriated “most” of their nationals.
The outlier has been the UK, which, according to RSI, has “dragged its heels” on the issue - it has repatriated no women and only a handful of children, leaving around 30-60 British children and 16 women in the camps.
The UK has widely used citizenship-stripping powers against British nationals deemed to hold dual citizenship and to have travelled to Syria during the foreign-backed war in the country.
At least 176 people had their British citizenship stripped between 2006 and the end of 2020, according to government figures.
Middle East Eye contacted the UK Foreign Office for a comment, but had received no response at time of publication.
Roughly 10,000 men and hundreds of adolescent boys are held in 14 overcrowded prisons in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah region.
Women and children live in two sprawling camps, al-Roj and al-Hol, home to some 60,000 people.