Kyrgyzstan evacuates 80 small compatriots from Iraq

Bishkek, March 16, 2021. / Kabar /. 79 children of Kyrgyz citizens have been returned to home from the Republic of Iraq as part of the Meerim humanitarian mission, the press service of the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. On March 16 this year, a special flight from Iraq arrived in the country. This humanitarian mission, aimed at rescuing children who are in an extremely dangerous situation for life and health, is the first repatriation activity of this nature and scale. As part of a whole complex of measures, including serious preparatory work for repatriation, after lengthy negotiations with the Iraqi side, an advanced working group of diplomatic staff, representatives of the Government and other competent authorities of Kyrgyzstan was sent to the Republic of Iraq with a humanitarian mission in late February 2021 to conduct appropriate measures to prepare the return of children to their homeland. The repatriation of children was made possible by the political will of the country's leadership, the coordination of the government of Kyrgyzstan and the well-coordinated interaction of state bodies in the field of foreign affairs, health and social development, law enforcement agencies, the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Kuwait, as well as significant assistance from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). The return of children to their homeland is part of the algorithm of repatriation measures, according to which the relevant services will have to work on rehabilitation and re-socialization for further transfer to their relatives. The export of children was carried out with the consent of their mothers who remained in Iraq and the will of relatives in the Kyrgyz Republic to take the children into families for upbringing. The Kyrgyz Government expresses its gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Iraq for providing assistance in the process of organizing repatriation, the representative offices of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Bishkek and Baghdad, the Red Crescent of Kyrgyzstan for cooperation and assistance in the humanitarian mission to save and return children to their homeland.