In a small apartment near Minneapolis, two brothers, aged 7 and 9, are engrossed in a game of chess. They communicate in Arabic and English, a reflection of their heritage. The older boy reveals that he learned chess in a detention facility in Syria, where they lived for five years after being orphaned. This camp, tied to their familial connections with ISIS, has impacted their lives profoundly. Now, the boys reside with their American grandparents thanks to a U.S. government initiative aimed at addressing the complex issues surrounding families affected by the Syrian conflict and ISIS.
"Check," he announces with confidence. "Smart move," says their grandfather, sitting nearby. I'm impressed by their skills and focus. "How did you learn to play?"
The older boy responds: al-sijn. I wait for a translation. "He learned it in the jail, he said," the grandfather tells me.
Months before they came to Minnesota, these two boys were living, parent-less, in an enormous desert camp in Syria for relatives of ISIS militants.
The State Department calls it a model for addressing an intractable legacy of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq: what to do with the tens of thousands of people from around the world being held in these Syrian camps.
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