Baku repatriates 16 Azeri from ISIS families in Syria

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Baku has succeeded in carrying out one of its most complex humanitarian operations this year, after repatriating 16 of its nationals stranded in Syria over the course of July 18 and 19, 2026, in a step that reflects the continuation of the state's program to return women and children from conflict zones and close the file of families detained in camps in northeastern Syria.

 The new batch included 7 women and 9 children, and the process of repatriating them began with a delicate technical stage that included locating them and verifying their identities through technical and legal procedures to ensure their belonging to the Republic of Azerbaijan, a step that the Foreign Ministry says is a prerequisite before embarking on any transfer or repatriation process.

According to a statement issued by the Uzbek Foreign Ministry on Monday (July 20th), Baku dispatched a joint government team specialized in crisis management to Syria to supervise the operation on the ground, and conduct preliminary medical and psychological examinations of the returnees to ensure their safety before takeoff.

The statement added that the operation was carried out through cross-border diplomatic coordination between Azerbaijan's embassy in Syria, its embassy in Turkey, and the Consulate General in Istanbul, which was in charge of issuing temporary return documents and securing flight tickets to the capital, Baku.

Sources: Returnees from ISIS families

Although the Uzbek Foreign Ministry  did not specify the locations where the nationals were found, and did not indicate that they were from the families of the "state" organization, Syrian sources and reports confirmed that they were detained inside the camps of the "ISIS" families  in northeastern Syria, such as the camps of Roj and al-Hol, where thousands of women and children of various nationalities have been living since the collapse of the organization.

Upon arrival, the returnees will undergo comprehensive government programs that include psychological support, social rehabilitation, and educational follow-up, with the aim of gradually integrating them into society and addressing the effects of prolonged detention in the conflict environment, the Ministry said.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry had previously announced the repatriation of 23 Azerbaijani citizens, including seven women and 16 children, from Syria on June 7, 9 and 11.

Roj and Al-Hol camps

The Roj camp currently houses about 750 families, numbering more than 2,200 people, belonging to more than 50 different nationalities, according to the camp administration.

Children and women represent the largest percentage of residents, while the camp also includes a limited number of men in special circumstances, while the diversity of nationalities is one of the most prominent challenges facing the management of the file, as the positions of countries on the restoration of their citizens vary.

The file of camps in northeastern Syria, especially al-Hol and Roj, has undergone a radical transformation over the past two years, culminating in the complete dismantling of the historic al-Hol camp in February 2026, and the evacuation of tens of thousands of its residents through various routes.

Data documented by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) show that the evictions and deportations of foreign nationals (non-Syrians) have reached unprecedented levels, with the Iraqi government leading the largest repatriation operation in the region, officially returning more than 17,100 Iraqi women and children, transferring them to the Jadaa camp in Nineveh for rehabilitation, and transferring some 5,700 suspected ISIS detainees to security centres inside Iraq.

Mixed responses of states in the repatriation of their nationals

UN reports confirm that other countries have recaptured between 8,500 and 9,000 of their nationals living in the Roj and al-Hol camps through coordinated operations led by the SDF and the international coalition, bringing the total official toll of organized repatriations to about 31,000 people.

  Central Asian countries and Russia have been at the forefront of the scene with hundreds of women and children repatriated through private flights and rapid integration programmes, while Arab countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt have emerged alongside the recent repatriations carried out by Azerbaijan.

In contrast, the response of Western countries such as France, Germany, Britain and Australia has been very slow and reticent, repatriating limited numbers of orphaned children and women, leading to the dispersal of thousands of Western nationals during the recent wave of evictions.