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Eva Dumani has returned to Tirana after 12 years in Syria, where she had been staying in the Al Hol camp. She was reunited with her mother and brother after an operation involving Albanian security structures.
According to the data, she was initially taken from Syria to Turkey with the help of a family member, while Albanian authorities then organized her return to Albania.
Former Director General of the State Police, Gledis Nano, who previously headed the Anti-Terror structure, spoke about the challenges of the operations conducted in the Al Hol camp area. He recalled the 2020 intervention to remove Endri Dumani, Eva's brother, from the camp.
Nano announced that at that time Eva refused to leave. He emphasized that operations in the Syrian camps present high difficulties due to security conditions and the complexity of the terrain. According to him, other families with Albanian citizenship have also stayed in those areas.
Eva's return concludes a years-long process for the family, while authorities are expected to follow the procedures for her integration into the country.
"In fact, it was a complex operation. This work, this operation has been talked about before, a lot has been said, but you remind me of a time when, in fact, besides the difficulty, there was also the pleasure or adrenaline of saving the lives of innocent children. Others, due to the indoctrination and realization of their parents, managed to go against their free will and go to Syria to fight or live with ISIS groups and other terrorist groups at the time. And after the blow that ISIS dealt them, at that time all the captured people were held in camps, as they are still held today, mainly women and minor children, while the men are in prison.
It was an operation that was thought out and planned for a long time. The only way we could go to Syria was Lebanon at that time. Due to the situation created in northeastern Syria, we collaborated with Lebanese colleagues, who provided great assistance for that operation. In fact, as far as I understand, as far as I remember, four operations were carried out. In those years, the first (operation) began with the rescue of a boy, Alvin Berisha, who, while he was a resident of Italy, decided to go to Italy to be with his father, then we continued with the second operation, which lasted five weeks. Several Albanian citizens were rescued, including Endri Dumani. During the entire time we stayed in Lebanon and throughout the entire time we planned or thought about this operation, we worked to obtain information on the placement of the people who were in the camp. "In fact, we checked three camps, at that time Alhol, Rozhë and another camp, and most of the Albanians were in the Alhol camp, which was the most difficult place for us to check, because it had a very large area with a population of about 70,000 inhabitants settled in tents like the ones we see in the video," said Nano.
The former head of Anti-Terror says that he managed to contact Eva, a minor at the time, but was unable to convince her to leave the camp.
"In fact, Eva, I think, at that time it was not clear, because later during the communications she expressed that she had made mistakes. Along with Eva, there were also several other Albanian families who, due to the high level of radicalization, I think, did not accept to return. And because of the misinformation they had from certain people. The people in the camp were told that the moment you return to Albania, you will be prohibited from practicing your religious rites and practicing others, which is not true. Because it has not happened to any person ," said Nano.
Nano further indicates that there is serious information that there are still many Albanian families in the camp.
"To my knowledge, there are still some, some families. Some of them are not ready to return, do not want to return, and some even though they want to return, it is a very complicated situation currently in that area which makes it difficult for another operation to return these families, not more than last month, you may have also followed it in the media. Yes, the camp was attacked and some of these people have left the camp, some of the camp residents. Where the situation is not, it is not so easy ," said Nano.
The former Director General of the State Police says that Endri Dumani and Eva Dumani, brother and sister, were accommodated in the same tent in the jihadist camp.
"But it is true that Endri and Eva were both in a tent under the care of, let's say, several other Albanian families, but as I told you, they left, a large part of them left and refused to return. We have in fact also seen a family, we have contacted an Albanian family from Macedonia, yes, which we took and transported to another camp, with discipline, we say, both in terms of security, as well as in terms of conditions or health and psychological care, but we had no way of returning them, since it was not our responsibility, despite the fact that they were Albanians, they were Macedonian citizens," said Nano.
Nano emphasizes the special consideration he has for Eva's uncle, Xhetan Ndregjoni, who never gave up on his goal of saving his grandchildren from jihadists and returning them to Albania.
"I personally have had constant contact with colleagues from the structures and with Eva's uncle, who for me is truly a hero who deserves a medal, because since the time the children were taken away, he has not stopped for a second to look for his nephew and niece. And he practically demonstrated it with his trip to Turkey, Syria and managed to get the girl. I appreciate and congratulate him very much. In fact, I am not aware today if there is any change to the plan that was approved at that time and what will be the place, the environment where Eva will go and be treated, given that she is a single person. I think it will be even easier to treat her from a psychological, health and rehabilitative point of view, as well as from an educational point of view, I am saying," said Nano.
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