Thousands Foreign Children Remain in Iraq Conflict Zones, Syria Camps- Russian Ombudswoman

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2020) Over 500 children from foreign countries remain stranded in Iraq's conflict zones and several thousands more in Syria's camps, Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Anna Kuznetsova told Sputnik.

Russia has been carrying out a state-sponsored evacuation of Russian children from the middle East's conflict zones since 2017, when the RT broadcaster released a documentary about a Baghdad orphanage housing Russian minors.

"As we returned our children from Iraq, we know that more than 500 children � citizens of various countries � remain in the Baghdad prison. Several thousand children might right now be in the Syrian camps, we think," Kuznetsova said.

The ombudswoman said Russia had found an effective legal instrument for returning Russian children from the conflict zones and is currently tackling what she called "another obstacle of an ideological nature," which is the prejudiced attitudes toward the rescued children.

More than 150 Russian children smuggled to Iraq and Syria by parents who had pledged allegiance to terrorist organizations have already been brought back home. The most recent evacuation flight on February 7 brought 26 kids from Syria's Al-Hawl camp back to Russia and returned them to family members, while nine others await their repatriation documents to be processed.