Thursday
25th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Relatives of Maldivian passport holders stranded at Kurdish-operated Syrian Detention camps, currently being targeted with Turkish air strikes, expressed worry over the terror faced by their family members away from home.
The families apprised that most of the Maldivian families stranded in these camps were women and young children, stating that mother and their infants were living in poor conditions at the camps.
Turkey launched an offensive crusade of airstrikes across parts of Iraq and Syria on Sunday as part of Operation Claw-Sword, following a bombing in Istanbul on November 13 that killed six people.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement on Thursday that Turkey targeted both al-Hol camp and Jerkin prison, which holds ISIS suspects and their families.
While the Kurdish have have made arrangements to send refugees back to their home countries on request from these countries, the families of Maldivians stuck in the affected camps asserted that their relatives remain in hopes of returning home.
Family of a woman stuck in a Kurdish camp stated that should the Maldivian government wish to accept the returnees, they can have their families back. Australian, Uzbekistanian and Canadian citizens in these camps have been recalled by their governments and deported safely.
The regulatory guidelines to rehabilitate the returnees fro Jihadist territories have been outlined by the law. However, another family member of a stranded young child stated that the government has taken no actions to ensure their safe return. They said that their families have been begging the government to find a way to reunite the families, and that their pleas fell on deaf ears.
“These are small children, Maldivian children. Ensuring their safety is a national responsibility.”, the family member stated.
They added that months have passed since the concerned families have requested an audience with the President, however, the President’s Office has left their letters unanswered.
The family member in Maldives stated that upon meeting him, the Minister of Home affairs, Imran Abdulla, assured that transportation via the Uzbekistanian route has been arranged and that the authorities await the go-ahead from the President.
They argued that while most of the Maldivians in the detention camps were children of one to fifteen years of age, stranding them is negligent of the government.