Russia To Resume DNA Testing As Search For Minors In Syrian Camps Underway - Ombudswoman

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2021) Russia will soon resume taking DNA samples for paternity testing from children staying on the territories that are not under the government's control in Syria, specifically in Al-Hawl and Roj refugee camps, in order to determine whether or not they are Russian citizens, Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Anna Kuznetsova told Sputnik in an interview.

"Sample collection is a very important matter for us. For example, we see someone for the first time, although it happens very rarely. It is mostly children, about whom we knew nothing for some time, but had an inkling that they could be staying at Al-Hawl camp .

.. All in all, we expect to retrieve children from several locations this time, but if we can collect DNA [samples] then it may be 10 children, or maybe 20-30," Kuznetsova said.

Russia has been working to identify and repatriate Russian minors who were smuggled to Iraq and Syria by parents who have links to terrorist groups since summer 2017. So far, 274 children have been brought home from the middle East, including 122 from Iraq and 152 from Syria.