Russian authorities hope to repatriate at least 30 young children next month whose parents traveled to Iraq to join insurgents, the Russian children's rights ombudswoman said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2019) Russian authorities hope to repatriate at least 30 young children next month whose parents traveled to Iraq to join insurgents, the Russian children's rights ombudswoman said on Monday.Thirty older Russia-born children, aged three to 15, were flown to Moscow on December 30 and reunited with their relatives. The second group is made up of mostly babies and toddlers up to three years who were born abroad.
"We plan to repatriate over 30 children this time. The number on the list is 39 ... We expect to complete the paperwork in the first half of February," Anna Kuznetsova told reporters.
She said all but nine of the 39 listed kids had been DNA-tested. Russian experts were unable to test the remaining nine, which has complicated their repatriation.
Iraqi authorities have promised their assistance in bringing children to Russia, Kuznetsova said. The process is being fast-tracked after the Iraqi prime minister and the top judge stepped in.
A hundred women and children have been brought back to Russia from Syria and Iraq since 2017 after Chechen governor Ramzan Kadyrov published a video about Russia-born children stranded in Baghdad whose parents came to Iraq to fight alongside the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia).
