By Al-Fassel and AFP | 2023-08-30

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan said Wednesday (August 30) it had repatriated 95 wives and children of members of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) from detention camps in Syria, in the third such operation by the Central Asian country.

"Thirty-one women and 64 children who are Kyrgyz citizens were transferred from Syria to Kyrgyzstan," said the Foreign Ministry in a statement, without detailing how many more of its nationals remain in internment camps in northeastern Syria.

Thousands of Kyrgyzstan nationals joined extremist organizations in Syria, and the return of the families of ISIS fighters who were captured or killed is a thorny issue for many countries.

The ministry said it was "grateful" to the United States for "full assistance and logistical support" in the operation, as well as thanking UNICEF and the Red Cross.

Kyrgyzstan has already twice taken back its citizens from Syria or Iraq. In March 2021, 79 children were repatriated while in February this year another 59 women and children were returned.

Thousands of people from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia -- Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan -- joined various extremist organizations including ISIS, particularly between 2013 and 2015.

The "caliphate", which ISIS proclaimed across swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, was declared defeated in 2019 following counter-offensives in both Iraq and Syria.

Overcrowded camps

Thousands of extremists and their family members continue to be held in detention centers and informal camps where US commanders have warned they could fuel an ISIS revival.

In Syria, most are being held in two overcrowded and crime-ridden camps in the northeastern province of al-Hasakeh: al-Hol and Roj.

Despite repeated calls for their repatriation, foreign governments have allowed only a trickle to return home, fearing security threats and domestic political backlashes.

The repatriation push comes amid ongoing violence linked to extremists inside the camps and reports that ISIS has been recruiting youth in the camps.

Last year, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish internal security forces (Asayesh) led a massive campaign to purge al-Hol of ISIS cells in the wake of a surge in killings and kidnappings inside the camp.

Security forces discovered that ISIS cells had been using tents in the camp to train children to carry and use weapons and to disseminate terrorist ideology.

Instruments of torture were found, in addition to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and phones and laptops that belonged to the group.

Some tents had been used as "sharia courts", with residents who oppose ISIS being detained and tortured by the extremists.

Children in al-Hol "are in daily danger of indoctrination to violence," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a March 18 statement, adding that teenagers with foreign parents "expressed a desire to return to their country of origin".

"These camps represent not only a flashpoint of human suffering but also an enduring security risk as the more than 30,000 children housed in them are in danger of ISIS indoctrination," CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla said April 6.

"The only long-term solution to this crisis is the successful rehabilitation, repatriation, and reintegration of al-Hol and al-Roj camp residents back to their countries of origin," he said.