A young British girl has been repatriated from a detention camp housing alleged Islamic State family members in northwest Syria, authorities in the region have told Sky News.
The girl, who is thought to be around nine years old, was found at the Al Hol camp in northeast Syria, which houses the wives and children of IS fighters and supporters of the terror group.
She was being raised by a woman who is not her biological mother and does not speak English, as she has spent most of her life in the camps.
It is understood the UK government asked the authorities in northeast Syria to find her in the camp and hand her over.
Khaled Ibrahim, a member of the foreign relations department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said the department had been in “constant touch” with the British government to determine the identity and location of the girl over the past couple of years.
“She had no idea bout her identity, name, or citizenship,” he said.
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Mr Ibrahim said the girl was “about nine years old” and does not know her mother or father “because she was moving from the custody of one woman to another”, as she had lost her parents.
“The camps reflect a very difficult environment for both women and children,” he said.
“Those children may get imbued with more radical ideas and, thus, they will turn into IS cells.
“This [is] what we’ve been witnessing recently – the cubs of the caliphate are organised in the camps. There is also communication between IS cells inside and outside the camps.
“This is why we’ve always said there must be comprehensive solutions for those children since they carry IS heritage
and are IS remnants.
“There must be participation by the international community to eliminate IS completely.”
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Asked what his message was to the British and other Western governments was, Mr Ibrahim said: “The chaos that has happened and [is] still happening in Syria outlines that terrorist organisations in Syria have found a fertile ground to reorganise their ranks.”
He added: “We have information in that regard suggesting that IS is reorganising its ranks in the vicinity of major cities like Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and other areas. This happens because IS has seized a lot of weapons left behind by the former regime in its military facilities.
“It is also the result of the existing chaos and the interim government’s inability to enforce safety and security, in addition to its inability to assert its control over Syria or even carry out its security duties effectively.
“There must be an international collaboration aimed at reorganising what is happening in Syria.”
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Last month, IS militants attacked members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the security forces controlling large parts of northeast Syria, killing five of their soldiers in Deir Ezzour province.
Mr Ibrahim said there has “absolutely” been an increase in IS activity after the fall of Bashar al Assad, who had ruled Syria from 2000 until he was overthrown in December last year.
“The daily attacks indicate IS is reorganising its ranks to destabilise the areas of north and east Syria to create security chaos and exploit the disorder already triggered by the fall of the regime.”
An interim deal between the SDF and the new government in Damascus has yet to be fully implemented after the removal of Assad from power, with disagreements remaining over integrating Kurdish forces into a national army.
Sky News has asked the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for comment.
