Iraq News Now

Tajikistan has expressed hopes that Baghdad returns at least 75 children, whose mothers are being held in Iraq over involvement with ISIS in Iraq.

In remarks on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sirodjidin Mukhriddin said 92 Tajik children are stranded in Iraq, 75 should be eligible for repatriation back home, while 31 others are aged under three.

Mukhriddin explained that Iraqi legislation demands the parents approval ahead of their children leaving the country, however, most of the children had lost their fathers during ISIS fights.

Moreover, Tajikistan will have to pay US$400 to repatriate each child.

“Iraqi judges sentenced a number of female citizens of Tajikistan to long sentences, some even to life sentences. The repatriation process "will be long and hard,” Mukhriddin said.

Tajik diplomats will visit Syria soon to discuss the repatriation of former militants to their country, he concluded.

Last year in February Tajikistan pardoned more than 100 people, who had returned home from Iraq and Syria after fighting with ISIS.

Tajikistan has been a prime ground for militancy over the past years due to its poor economic situation and adjacency to Afghanistan.

In December, Iraq declared the end of military operations against ISIS, which captured most of the Iraqi territories in the summer of 2014.