Two other Tajik children are expected to be repatriated to Tajikistan from Iraq soon. The Tajik Foreign Ministry says an agreement on this subject was reached with Iraqi officials on June 26.
Iraqi judicial authorities have reportedly handed down an appropriate ruling on this subject and the children will be brought to Dushanbe within the next few days.
According to the Tajik MFA information department, the Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan is coordinating all actions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq and other relevant agencies of this country through the Tajik Embassy in Kuwait.
Recall, four children were returned to Tajikistan on April 25 following a months-long effort by authorities to repatriate Tajik children and women who had been stranded in Iraq and Syria. In most cases their families are suspected of having left Tajikistan to join the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
In a statement released on April 25, the Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan said that the four Tajik minors, including Maryam Shoyeva and three children who were identified by a Tajik diplomat as siblings – a girl and two boys – aged between 3 and 9 – were repatriated to Tajikistan.
The children had been taken to a Baghdad shelter after Iraqi government forces recaptured Mosul from IS control.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old girl from Tajikistan, Aisha, who was taken by her parents to Iraq several years ago, gave birth to a baby on May 25 and she will be allowed returning to Tajikistan when her baby will be 40 days old.
The Interior Ministry press center noted in April this year that Aisha, 9-year-old Abdullo, 7-year-old Fotima and 3-year-old Muhammad are children of Dushanbe resident Ilhomiddin Aslonov. Three years ago, he left Dushanbe for Moscow with his family and from there they reportedly traveled to Iraq.
The Interior Ministry press center says Ilhomiddin Aslonov is charged with membership in IS terror group.
