May 7 (UPI) — Eleven U.S. citizens, including five minors, were among 22 people repatriated from northeast Syria, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday.
Others repatriated include six from Canada, four from the Netherlands and one from Finland, The Hill reported.
Blinken said eight children in total were among the 22 repatriated Tuesday.
“In conducting this complex repatriation and resettlement the department coordinated closely with our inter-agency partners,” Blinken said in a statement.
Blinken said the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and the departments of Defense, Justice, and Health and Human Services assisted in the repatriation efforts.
Blinken said it was the largest single repatriation involving U.S. citizens from northeast Syria.
He said about 30,000 people from more than 60 nations remain in refugee camps in al-Hol and Roj in Syria, and most of those are children.
“As governments undertake repatriation of their nationals, we urge thoughtfulness and flexibility to ensure that to the maximum extent possible family units remain intact,” Blinken said.
“The only durable solution to the humanitarian and security crisis in the displaced persons camps and detention facilities in northeast Syria is for countries to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate and, where appropriate, ensure accountability for wrongdoing,” he added.
Blinken said the government of Kuwait and Syrian Democratic Forces assisted in the successful repatriation effort announced Tuesday.