BEIRUT (AP) — The United States has repatriated 11 of its citizens from sprawling camps in northeastern Syria that house tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State militants, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.
The repatriation was the largest Washington has carried out from the camps to date, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Five of the 11 citizens brought back were children, and one non-U.S. citizen child -- the 9-year-old sibling of one of the other children -- was also brought with them.
As part of the same operation, the U.S. facilitated the repatriation of 11 other camp residents, eight of them children, to Canada, the Netherlands and Finland, the statement said.
Although the pace of repatriations has picked up -- neighboring Iraq recently returned hundreds of its citizens -- many countries remain reluctant to bring back citizens from the al Hol and al Roj camps, which now hold about 30,000 people from more than 60 countries, most of them children.
Xi Sends Congratulatory Letter to 2022 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit
Xi to Attend G20 Summit, APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and Visit Thailand
China Unveils Regulation on Boosting Development of Self
China's ecological environment improves steadily in 2023: Minister
Xi to Address 5th CIIE Opening Ceremony via Video, Speech to Be Broadcast Live
Wenzhou Organizes Family Related Activity
After special teams play keyed Rangers' series
Xi Focus: Xi Addresses CIIE, Calls for Joint Efforts for Bright Future of Openness, Prosperity
Anguish as Kenya's government demolishes houses in flood
Xiplomacy: China's Vision of Global Governance for Addressing Common Challenges