MOSCOW, September 6 (RAPSI) – Syrian president Bashar Hafez al-Assad has expressed his readiness to facilitate return of Russian minors to home during his meeting with Russia’s child rights commissioner Anna Kuznetsova in Damascus, her press service has reported.

According to the ombudsman, the number of requests to help return children brought to Syria in relation to the activities of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia, is rising.

Kuznetsova and Assad have also discussed protection of rights of Russian children staying in Syrian refugee camps and in the territories temporarily being beyond the control of the Republic’s authorities. The negotiations led to the cooperation settlement, according to the ombudsman’s press service. The Syrian party is willing to render comprehensive assistance to return Russian minors, the statement reads.

In September 2017, the inter-departmental commission for assistance in children’s return from fighting zones and the commission’s authorized working group were established under the children’s rights commissioner. Their database includes about 700 minors brought out to the Middle East by parents.

Throughout the last year, Kuznetsova was facilitating the return of Russian minors from combat zones in Syria and Iraq and is keeping on it now.

As of today, in total 90 children have already come back home, according to the ombudsman.