A Maldivian woman and her 14 year old daughter who had gone to join the war in Syria and were stranded in Turkiye has been brought back to the Maldives, and are under rehabilitation, Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan revealed today.
Speaking at the press conference held at the President's Office this morning, Minister Ihusan said that there a number of Maldivians who went to join wars, and family members they had taken with them, who are stranded abroad with no means of returning to Maldives.
Acting on President Dr Mohamed Muizzu's directive to return them to Maldives, the government is now taking steps to do so, the Minister noted.
Previously, 23 individuals who had gone to join foreign wars have been returned to Maldives and rehabilitated.
The Minister said that, currently, efforts are ongoing to repatriate 60 individuals in two areas of Syria, and some others stranded in other countries. Through these efforts, authorities discovered that three Maldivians had migrated to Turkey, but are now stranded there, he said.
Ihusan said that the Turkiye authorities detained the three and alerted Maldivian officials, after which repatriation efforts began. The minister added that a mother and her 14 year old daughter have since been brought back to the Maldives and are now receiving rehabilitation and other support at the National Reintegration Centre (NRC) in Himmafushi.
NRC is a centre set up to provide rehabilitation and reintegration support to individuals brought back from warzones or after engaging in war in warzones designated under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
The centre offers support to those deemed 'victims'.
The centre is equipped with counselling rooms and classrooms. It also has dedicated play areas for children, a library, and rooms for various skills programs. The centre also has arrangements allowing those held there to cook their own meals.
