Syria / Tajikistan : Tajikistan Repatriates 104 Children and 42 Women from Al Hol and Roj Camps : Bo Nylund / NRT

Great news! Tajikistan has repatriated 146 children and their mothers from prison-like facilities in northeast #Syria today.@UNICEFinSyria is keen to continue to support these efforts and urges countries to step-up repatriation. The time to act is now!#EveryDayCounts pic.twitter.com/vTSEJ4hY0H

— Bo Viktor Nylund (@bvnylund) July 25, 2022

SULAIMANI — The central Asian country of Tajikistan repatriated 146 Islamic State (ISIS) linked women and children from al-Hol and Roj refugee camps in northern Syria, Rojava Information Center (RIC) said on Monday (July 25).

The group consisted of 42 women and 104 children, including orphans. Tajikistan had been working for months with Kurdish authorities in Rojava to repatriate their nationals and the women has not committed any crimes in Syria, the Associated Press said.

RIC said Monday’s repatriation of ISIS-linked citizens was Tajikistan’s first from Syria and the former Soviet country had previously brought back 84 of its nationals from Iraq.

Kurdish authorities and human rights organizations have long called for the international community to repatriate their citizens from the overcrowded and dangerous camps in Syria.

Central Asia has brought back more than half the third-country nationals from Syria, RIC said. Kazakhstan has repatriated 710 people, Uzbekistan 339 and Russia 312.

RIC reported on Friday a Russian delegation took back 11 ISIS-linked children from Rojava. France repatriated 35 children and 16 women at the beginning of July.

The center announced violence in al-Hol camp had gone up in June compared to the previous month. There were eight murders in the camp in June and 6 in May while 23 people were arrested in al-Hol and camps in Raqqa.