The Maldivian government has sent a charter flight to Turkey to repatriate Maldivians who were left stranded in Syria after having been involved in the civil war of the country.

A senior government official confirmed the news to One Online. He said the flight sent to Turkey to bring them was a private airline operating in the Maldives that offered the cheapest price.

The official said the refugees are about 20 people, including a Dhvehi man, women and their children who were in a refugee camp in Syria during the last days of former President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih's government. They are being brought to the Maldives with the assistance of Turkey, the official said.

He said the refugees are being brought back to the Maldives at the request of their families. However, there are serious risks and constraints, he said. The biggest challenge is the difficulties in reaching the refugees as the area is a war zone and cannot be reached by anyone other than international aid agencies such as the Red Cross, he said.

He said there are also major legal issues to be considered in bringing children born to Maldivians there. Before bringing the children, they have to undergo a DNA test to see if they are the children of a Maldivian man, he said.

Before being released to society, people brought from war zones are first placed in a special rehabilitation program under the Prohibition of Terrorism Act at the National Reintegration Center (NRC) in Himmafushi.

Therefore, they must first be brought to the Maldives and kept in the NRC for a 30-day assessment after which the assessment will be submitted to the court. It is to run the program for a period given by the court and to determine who among them are criminals. If there are any criminals involved, they will be subject to criminal investigation and taken into police custody. However, the rest will remain at the center to complete treatment.

NRC Director General Anwar Naeem told One Online earlier that the NRC will have four blocks to accommodate the refugees. One block is reserved for women, one for boys under the age of 18, one for men over the age of 18, and one for families. The center can accommodate 72 people and five families at a time.

The center also has therapy rooms for children and adults. Psychological and social support and religiously valid information will be provided to the recipients. The center also has a children’s playroom and library.

In addition, classes will be held at the center through Himmafushi school teachers to teach children to read and write and vocational training will be provided to children and adults. The children will be taken to the island school once they are educated at the same level as the grade appropriate to their age, Anwar said.

Anwar said a family had already been reintegrated into the NRC. After a year of work, the family has been successfully reintegrated into society, Anwar said. He said the family consisted of four children, two of whom were born in Syria.