Russia will repatriate its citizens who are ISIS members held in prisons in Iraq, Rudaw Media Network, a Kurdistan Region-based news channel, reported Thursday.
Iraq took in about 6,000 male ISIS members over the past month as US Central Command transferred them from Syria to Iraq.
The ISIS members come from as many as 60 countries. According to a list that has been widely circulated online, but which Iraqi authorities have said is not final or accurate, there may be 130 Russians among the ISIS members.
When ISIS was on the rise in 2014, many reports said some people from Russia’s Chechnya region had joined ISIS. The Chechens were known to be good fighters and particularly good snipers.
When ISIS lost its last major territory in 2019 to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, about 7,000 ISIS male fighters surrendered along with some 50,000 women and children.
“Russia is prepared to repatriate its citizens who joined the Islamic State (ISIS) and are now held in Iraqi prisons, the Iraqi embassy in Moscow announced on Wednesday,” Rudaw Media Network reported.
“The announcement came following a meeting between Iraqi Ambassador Abdul Karim Hashim Mostafa and Russian Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov in Moscow, where Zubov said Russia would move forward with accepting Russian nationals once detainees’ citizenships are verified,” the report said.
Iraq now holds about 5,700 ISIS members who came from Syria via the US Central Command transfer. They include people from “67 countries, just 460 of whom are Iraqi nationals,” Rudaw Media Network reported.
“Iraqi diplomats made the formal request to Moscow to transfer Russian nationals home as part of Baghdad’s appeal to dozens of countries to take back their citizens,” the report said.
Mustafa and Zubov also discussed easing visa procedures for Iraqi travelers and businesspeople, “which would contribute to boosting trade and tourism and strengthening ties,” it added.
There have been several reports about the foreign ISIS members. For instance, some of them are from Iran. In addition, in Syria, some Australian women who joined ISIS are seeking to return home with their children.
ISIS member investigations are expected to take months
Iraq wants to investigate the ISIS members who arrived from Syria. They are now in prison.
Apparently, the investigations will take months. Many ISIS members are suspected of crimes against humanity.
ISIS massacred thousands of Shi’ites in Iraq at Camp Speicher in 2014. It also murdered thousands of members of the Yazidi minority. This is widely considered a genocide.
When the ISIS members were held in Syria by the SDF, there were no investigations into them.
Now that they are in Iraq, the authorities say they will document the prisoners and conduct a proper investigation. Holding 5,700 ISIS members, however, is a major burden on Iraq. Baghdad wants these people to go home after the investigations.