Iraq: Russian families among 1400 foreign nationals moved to ‘unclear’ location in Iraq - NRC spokesperson

Journalist (English): "How do you know that there were Russians among the people who were transferred by Iraqi authorities?"
Melany Markham, Norwegian Refugee Council in Iraq Media Spokesperson (English): "We were given information by an Iraqi official that listed around 30 families were Russian. There was also large numbers of families from the Northern Caucasus region, say between 30 and 50 families from Chechnya, Dagestan, other places in that region."
Journalist (English): "We read in your statement humanitarian organisations and representatives from their home countries should be allowed to offer them help. In your opinion, what should the Russian government do to find out about the whereabouts of the Russian nationalists?"
Melany Markham, Norwegian Refugee Council in Iraq Media Spokesperson (English): "My understanding is that the Russian government is willing to repatriate the foreign nationals that are in this situation and if that is the case then the Russian government needs to actively engage with the Iraqi authorities so that that can be done as soon as possible. Humanitarian organisations have been contacted by families of Russian nationals who are in Iraq. Again many of whom are small children and these families are asking that they be repatriated to Russia so that they can care for them."
The fate of 1400 foreign nationals, including Russian families, who were transferred from Mosul to a new emergency location in northern Iraq by Iraqi authorities, is left "unclear,” according to Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Iraq Media Spokesperson Melany Markham who spoke in an interview from Erbil on Monday.
Markham said that the transferred group, who are made up of women and children, are "extremely vulnerable" and many had expressed fears at what would happen to them in the hands of the Iraqi authorities.
"It’s very unclear at this moment as to the future of this group and that’s what we’re asking for clarity on at this moment," Markham stated.
According to information received by the NRC from an Iraqi official, around 30 of the families are Russian and many are also from the Northern Caucasus region.