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UK government under pressure to repatriate child, mother from Syrian detention camp
The Arab News reported, the UK government is facing increased pressure to repatriate a young boy and his gravely ill mother from a Syrian detention camp as fears mount that she may die, leaving the child orphaned.
An explosion in 2019 inside the camp, where the pair have been held for several years, left the mother with shrapnel in her head, but despite multiple requests to repatriate the family the mother and son remain incarcerated in Syria — a decision described by Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell as “hard to fathom.”
Mitchell told The Guardian: “Ministers are asking us to believe that this British woman who can barely walk is such a threat that she cannot be brought home for life-saving treatment.
“The government’s position is surely hard to fathom. Has the UK really become so fearful and so cruel? I urge the government not to risk making an orphan of a young British boy and bring this family home.”
According to the paper, the condition of the mother, whose name has been withheld, has worsened recently, with doctors warning she is unlikely to survive without medical intervention.
The co-executive director of the legal charity Reprieve, Maya Foa, who has visited the pair, said their tent was recently set alight, with the young boy forced to drag his mother from the fire and that he now refused to play with other children as he feared he may not be there to save her should another fire be lit.
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The Foreign Office said that it was reviewing the case as a “matter of priority,” but played up security concerns.
It added: “There may be British children in camps in Syria who are innocent victims of the conflict. Where we become aware of unaccompanied or orphaned British children in Syria, we will work to facilitate their return, subject to national security considerations.”
However, Labour MP Apsana Begum condemned this as a policy of “separating children from mothers,” putting them in a situation “that no parent should ever have to face.”
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She told The Guardian: “The fact that the government would adopt this brutish approach to tear British families apart shows everything that’s wrong with its counter-productive and unbearably callous policy towards British nationals in north-east Syria.”
Source: arabnews
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- November 7, 2024
Amid growing anxiety among several European countries participating in NATO over Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated he looks forward to sitting down with Trump.
Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.
Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.
On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.
It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.
Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.
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