UN brief: repatriation of suspected fighters, Syria threats and budget cuts among top concerns

At a press briefing at UN headquarters on Feb. 12, Efraim Qasayfi of Arab News asked about reparations and a UNOCT report that recorded five assassination attempts last year against Syrian officials. Unidentified Speaker 1, speaking for the United Nations Office of Counterterrorism, said the office will try to obtain more detailed information from its Baghdad office and share it "in due course."

On repatriation, Unidentified Speaker 1 said the office is working closely with the Government of Iraq and other partners on returning or relocating former fighters and their families. "We still have tens of thousands of former terrorist fighters and their family members in the region," the speaker said, and noted that some detainees are being moved from northeastern Syria to parts of Iraq as part of ongoing arrangements.

The representative outlined obstacles to repatriation, including differing national legal frameworks and the fact that some states have stripped citizenship from people associated with terrorist groups, which complicates return and prosecution. The speaker emphasized the need to investigate individual responsibility rather than treat all camp residents identically, and said that women and children often require reintegration and rehabilitation approaches rather than prosecution.

Regarding transfers of detainees from Syria to Iraq, the office said the process has proceeded in collaboration with the United States and Iraq, and that "the final goal and ultimate goal is, you know, like investigation and prosecution when and if necessary," while insisting on respect for human rights and due legal process.

On geographic threat distribution, Unidentified Speaker 1 urged attention to West Africa and the Sahel and stated that "according to our statistics, last year, more than 50 percent of death from terrorist attacks was not in Middle East, but it was in West Africa and in Sahel." The speaker also addressed operational resources, saying the office has been affected by budget austerity: "we lost almost a dozen of professional positions in my office. We have to relocate 6 staff members right now to, lower cost duty stations, 5 to Budapest, and 1 to Madrid." The office described its role as coordinator across 45 UN and non-UN agencies, including Interpol, while noting that law enforcement action remains a national and regional responsibility.

The office deferred a separate question about elections in Bangladesh to a later regular briefing, and on the Sahel said it had no current information on a resumed Wagner private security company presence but noted historical activity in Mali and the Central African Republic.

Unidentified Speaker 1 said the office will seek to provide more detail on the reported assassination attempts and reiterated that repatriation and reintegration approaches vary by country and case.