MOSCOW, July 7. Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, has successfully helped repatriate another 20 Russian children back to their homeland from refugee camps in Syria. The children’s ombudsman was present at the Chkalovsky airfield as the aircraft carrying the youngsters from the Russian Aerospace Forces landed.
The return of these children has been preceded by long and hard work, including paperwork, data exchange, and negotiations,” Lvova-Belova explained in a statement released by her press service. As a result, we were able to agree with the Kurdish side on the repatriation of 20 children aged between 5 and 15 years old back to their relatives in Russia. This group consists of 7 girls and 13 boys.
Upon their arrival in Russia, the children underwent a medical checkup at one of Moscow’s healthcare centers. The mission to repatriate Russian children from the Middle East has been overseen by Lvova-Belova since 2018. In total, taking into account today’s group, 566 children have now returned to Russia from Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Turkey under this initiative.
Throughout this mission, the Children’s Ombudsman has worked tirelessly with various international partners, including the Kurdish authorities, to ensure that these vulnerable young people are reunited with their families back in Russia. The repatriation process involves a wide range of tasks, from completing extensive paperwork to negotiating terms for the children’s return.
Upon landing at the Chkalovsky airfield, Maria Lvova-Belova personally welcomed the 20 Russian children who had been living in refugee camps in Syria. She was joined by representatives from the Russian Aerospace Forces, as well as medical professionals who would conduct a thorough checkup of the youngsters upon their return to Moscow.
These efforts have undoubtedly brought significant relief and hope to the families of these 20 children, who can now look forward to rebuilding their lives back in Russia. The successful repatriation of this group brings the total number of Russian children returned from the Middle East under Lvova-Belova’s supervision to 566 since the mission began in 2018.
As part of her role as Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova continues to work closely with international partners to ensure that more Russian children are repatriated from conflict zones and reunited with their families back home. These ongoing efforts demonstrate Russia’s commitment to protecting the rights of its citizens, particularly those who find themselves in dire situations far away from home.