On Thursday evening, 64 children, citizens of Uzbekistan, were returned to Tashkent on a special flight from Baghdad (Iraq), as part of the humanitarian operation Mehr-2 (“Goodness-2”), UzA reported.
The operation was reportedly carried out on the instruction by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in collaboration with the Government of Iraq and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Among those children - 39 boys and 25 girls, including 14 children under the age of 3 years and 2 orphans.
The special working group held talks with women from Uzbekistan sentenced to long (10−20 years) or life sentences for engagement in various international terrorist organizations, and received their consent for the return of children.
Some of the women’s spouses remain in the ranks of terrorist organizations, some were killed during the hostilities, others are serving sentences in prisons in Iraq and Syria, UzA noted.
Children who were through mental and physical suffering in conflict zones will be placed in a health institution where they will be provided with food and clothing and will receive comprehensive medical, psychological and social assistance.
Documents proving their identity will be issued. Children will be placed in pre-schools and schools, with guardians and sponsors attached to them.
In May, 155 women and children were returned from the conflict zone in the Middle East to Uzbekistan as part of the Goodness-1 operation.
