Yesterday’s children: now is the time to repatriate the children – and the young people who have “aged out” of childhood – in the camps and prisons of north-east Syria and Iraq

ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog · Oct 22, 2026 · 18m

Several years after the Islamic State group lost its last territory in March 2019, tens of thousands of Syrians, Iraqis, and third-country nationals from around 60 countries – including many children – remained in camps and prisons in north-east Syria and Iraq. In early 2026, almost 6,000 detainees were transferred to Iraq, among them children who were caught up in a war they did not choose. Repatriation remains the best way forward for most of the third-country nationals – but a deeply disturbing trend concerns the exclusion of young third-country nationals who “age out” of childhood from…