Chartered flight to bring back Maldivian ex-fighters displaced by Syria war

Maldives has sent a chartered flight to Turkey to bring back some 20 Maldivians who were stranded in Syria years ago after they had travelled to Syria to participate in the country's civil war.

A senior government official told Atoll Times on Monday that the homeland security ministry and police are conducting a special operation to bring back a number of Maldivians who have been displaced by the Syrian war.

State homeland minister Lubna Zahir also confirmed the operation, but said details would only released on Thursday after the operation is over.

According to the senior government official, Maldivian women and their children who were in a Syrian refugee camp have been transferred to a Turkish refugee camp during the last days of the previous government. They and their families have been asking the government to bring them back to Maldives, the official said.

According to the official: 

They will be paced in the National Reintegration Centre in K. Hinmafushi for rehabilitation or deradicalisation before being released, the official said.

According to the law, they can be placed there for one year for rehabilitation.

A Maldivian woman and her four children were earlier brought to Maldives and rehabilitated at the centre.