Britain to repatriate woman and five children from Syrian camps

Children walking among shelters at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected IS fighters. A director of Reprieve 'accused the UK of presiding over a ‘cruel, counter-productive, politically motivated policy’. Photograph: Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images

Britain has agreed to repatriate a woman and five children from camps in Syria, the second time the UK has allowed an adult to return since the end of the ground war against Islamic State more than four years ago.

The release was announced by the Kurdish administration that controls north-east Syria – but a human rights group and a former minister accused the UK of lagging behind other western nations in allowing families who lived under IS to return.