More than 90 Maldivians in Syria have requested to return home, the government announced today.
Twenty-one Maldivians from five families who left to fight in the Syrian civil war were brought to the Maldives this morning.
Briefing the media about the operation to repatriate them, Home Minister Ali Ihusan said more than 90 Maldivians in Syria wish to return home.
He said that Maldivians in Syria had contacted the government in various ways and requested to return home.
But details of their whereabouts and condition are yet to be received, he added.
The minister said 100 Maldivians, including more than 90 who had requested to return home, were in the war zones.
"Out of more than 100 people, we have not yet been able to identify who these people are. The information we are getting is that for example, one family is writing us a letter saying that there are this number of their family members who are believed to be in this area," he said.
At that point, the government starts looking for information about them and for the easiest ways to bring them back, he said.
"So far we have confirmed the identity of these 21 people [who were brought back to Maldives today]. Efforts are ongoing to establish contact with the remaining 90 people," Ihusan said.
Very little information is available about them, the minister noted.
Several Maldivians traveled to join Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda when the organizations controlled parts of Syria. Some of them took their families and many people died but Maldivians still remain in refugee camps in Syria.
Efforts to bring back Maldivians in Syrian camps started under the previous government.
