Ali Bek Bakayev, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, shared insights on the efforts being made to assist our citizens in Syria. He emphasized that the majority of individuals currently in Syria are women who previously married Syrian nationals and have given birth to children.
“When the revolution started, our consul reached out to them and asked whether they would stay or return to their homeland. As of today, we are in contact with them in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. We are doing our utmost to assist those wishing to return. As you know, last year we conducted several evacuations, meaning those who wanted to come back to Kazakhstan have already returned, while those who chose to stay remain in contact with us,” he assured.
Bakayev provided an estimate of the number of Kazakh citizens in the conflict zone.
“There are more than 30, if I’m not mistaken, around 33 Kazakh citizens. No more than that. We are in touch with them. From the Middle East and the Gaza Strip, we evacuated 129 individuals, and from Lebanon — 69 citizens. We state that we only evacuate citizens of Kazakhstan, but among them are individuals with children of different nationalities — there are children who returned with their mother and father,” Bakayev clarified.