France repatriates French children and mothers from Syrian refugee camps

PARIS:

France has repatriated 35 French children and 16 mothers from refugee camps in the northeast of Syria, the foreign affairs ministry said on Tuesday.

The mothers have been handed over to judicial authorities and the children will undergo medical checks.

The Syrian civil war has resulted in a major humanitarian crisis.

It started with peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule in March, 2011 and developed into a multi-sided, protracted conflict that sucked in world powers. The frontlines have been mostly frozen for years but violence is continuing and millions of people remain displaced within Syria's borders.

The U.N. human rights office said last month that 306,887 civilians had been killed in Syria during the conflict since 2011, about 1.5 % of its pre-war population.