Three Bosnian women kept in a Kurdish-run camp in northern Syria are hoping to get out of it soon and come back home, mother of one of the women told N1, urging the state authorities in Bosnia to help them.

Earlier this week a media outlet published a letter from the three Bosnians in which they cry for help. Four years ago they departed to the part of Syria controlled by so-called Islamic State but now wish to return to their homes.

“The three of us, Bosnian nationals, ask Bosnia and Herzegovina to take back both us and our children to the normal life we used to live,” the letter said.

One of the women, a Sarajevo-born 22-year-old, who left to Syria with her husband, sent out the letter through her mother in Bosnia.

“As soon as they came to Syria they regretted it and realised where they came,” the mother said in an interview for N1.

The three women managed to escape but after reaching the north of Syria they were captured by Kurdish forces. After a month of interrogation and detainment, the three women and their nine juvenile children were put in the Roj camp, near the town of Qamishli, staying there to date.

“They have been there for about a year and a half now, hoping they would get out one day. In their letter they asked us to urge the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to bring them back together with their children because that's the wish of their lives,” the mother said.

According to her, the young women regretted their decision to depart for Syria the first day they came to that country.

Bosnia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened a meeting to discuss the issue of its nationals in camps in Syria, according to N1's source. The meeting was attended by families of the three women, who told N1 that they were happy with the messages they got from authorities regarding their problem.

Alema Dolamic was the first one to speak in public about the three women's fate. One of them is Alema's sister who left for Syria from Austria in 2014 in the company of her husband. He died as a soldier of so-called Islamic State in February 2017.

“They call for help because they're at the end of their rope. My sister is seriously and severely ill. I hope she'll be back to Bosnia and Herzegovina soon to get help and that the state will take responsibility to provide medical treatment and everything the law prescribes,” said Alema.

She could not reveal any detail of the meeting at the Security Ministry.

Reportedly, two men originating from Bosnia – one holding German nationality too, are also among the Bosnian nationals in the camp.

Competent institutions and officials do not speak of details.

“We cannot be a spare option here for those who want to come back to Bosnia and Herzegovina. They first go somewhere, to a war zone, take part in a terrorist organisation and when it becomes dangerous they want to come back to Bosnia and Herzegovina. What nationality their husbands have, their children…,” said Dragan Mektic, Bosnia's Security Minister.

If they do return, the minister said, they will undergo a check which will reveal if they took part in “unallowed activities and, if yes, will be immediately processed.”