“Grave Fears” for Iraq Moves Families of ISIS Foreign Fighters,

Members of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) which has been monitoring the ongoing wars in Iraq and Syria have stated that they have “grave fears” for more than 1300 foreign women and children, family members of ISIS who have been detained by the Iraqi government as they tried to flee the country.

“The families had been held in a camp in Kurdish-controlled territory while Iraq figures out what to do with them,” NPR’s Jane Arraf reports.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said in a statement that the women and children were transferred Sunday from south of Mosul to an area north of the city that was freed from ISIS control three months ago. The council says that it has “grave fears” for the group’s safety.

It’s not clear where, precisely, the group is now located.

“These women and children are extremely vulnerable. Regardless of what their family members may be accused of, they have a right to protection and assistance,” Julie Davidson of the NRC said in a statement.

Foreign fighters from all over the world flocked to Iraq and Syria and many brought their wives and families with them. As these foreign fighters flocked to the “new caliphate” the atrocities rained on the Iraqi people particularly in Mosul.

ISIS fighters video-taped mass executions in the Tikrit and Mosul areas as supposedly more than 1700 military members and their families were killed. Now the refugee council is worried about retribution from Iraq’s military against the same ISIS fighters.

The more than 1300 women and children are reportedly from Africa, Europe, Asia and South America, although more than half are reportedly from Turkey. The Iraqis claim that they’ve only moved them to a camp with better facilities.

Iraq has reportedly asked the countries of the people to take them back, provided that they had committed no crimes in Iraq. Any person charged with the commission of a crime will be held and prosecuted.

To read the entire article from National Public Radio click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia