The semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in Syria announced on Tuesday (October 19) that it had handed over to a British envoy three children from a family of jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group.
"
Three British children from ISIS families were handed over to a delegation from the British Foreign Office on October 18,
" the head of the Kurdish authorities' foreign affairs department, Abdel Karim Omar, said on Twitter.
Read alsoWoman, Kurdish and journalist: Zehra Doğan tells the horror of Turkish jails
The children were handed over to Jonathan Hargreaves, UK Special Representative for Syria.
According to a Kurdish administration official who requested anonymity, they are three siblings: a two-year-old girl and two boys aged seven and nine.
Their mother remained in a camp under the authority of the Kurds.
Since the fall in March 2019 of the ISIS "
caliphate
" in Syria, the Kurds have been demanding the repatriation of thousands of foreign women and children of jihadists whom they are holding in overcrowded camps.
Despite these repeated requests, most countries, especially European countries, are reluctant to take back their citizens.
Some have repatriated a limited number of minors, including orphans.
On October 6, Germany and Denmark repatriated from Syria 11 women who joined ISIS and 37 children in a large humanitarian operation that resulted in the arrest of at least six women upon arrival.
The UN has repeatedly warned of the deteriorating health and security situation in camps in northeastern Syria.
