Human rights campaigners have condemned the British government for reportedly agreeing to repatriate children from Syrian camps on the condition they are separated from their mother.

Relatives of Mehak Aslam, who joined Isis with her husband in 2014, want her to sign paperwork that would allow her four children to return to the UK on the condition that she does not come with them.

They are currently being held alongside other Isis families at a camp in Syria, while her husband Shahan Choudhury is being held in a prison nearby, ITV News reported.

A letter from the Foreign Office to the family said that if Ms Aslam “were to make a fresh request for her children to be repatriated without her, we would urgently investigate the practicalities of doing so”.

If the same offer is made to other British detainees, it could provide a route out of Syria for dozens of children.

Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 1 /19 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Timeline of the Isis caliphate ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex Timeline of the Isis caliphate On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines Timeline of the Isis caliphate The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the city’s entrance and exit points AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent Timeline of the Isis caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent

But Maya Foa, director of the legal charity Reprieve, told The Independent amounted to family separation.

“The UK government has the choice to bring back mothers in northeast Syria together with their children and preserve family unity, something which child rights organisations all agree is in the best interests of the children,” she added.

“If the mothers have charges to answer, they can and should be prosecuted here in the UK by our justice system which deals with complicated cases every single day.”

The couple, from London, have been stripped of their British citizenship as part of controversial government attempts to prevent the return of alleged Isis members.

According to government documents, the deprivation of citizenship can only be used if it is “conducive to the public good” including for national security reasons.

Despite legal challenges, the government claims it can use the measure even if it makes a person stateless, as long as there are reasonable grounds to believe they can claim citizenship elsewhere.

The most recent figures show that 104 people were deprived of British citizenship in 2017.

Ms Aslam’s father, Mohammed, said his eldest granddaughter had been killed in an explosion in Isis’s last stronghold of Baghouz and he feared for her siblings’ safety amid the continuing war and dire conditions in camps.

“I can never forgive them for that,” he told ITV News. “They wanted to take this step for themselves. That’s fine, that’s their problem, but why involve the kids in this?”

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He said it would be a “very hard thing” for Ms Aslam to be separated from her children but added: “I hope she will see the right side and realise this is in the best interests of the children.”

Relatives of Ms Aslam and Mr Choudhury approached the Foreign Office after seeing an interview with the husband on television last June.

The government announced late last year that a small number of orphans would be brought back from the UK but charities estimate that up to 60 British children remain in Syrian camps.

Addressing parliament in November, Dominic Raab said: “We have made it clear that we are willing to repatriate unaccompanied UK minors or orphans where is no risk to UK security.

“We would consider carefully individual requests for consular support more generally and subject to national security considerations, but of course the UK has no consular presence in Syria from which to provide assistance, and that makes it very difficult to help, but we respond on a case-by-case basis.”

The Independent understands that requests for assistance from families in Syria can be transmitted to the British government by friends and relatives in the first instance, as it has no consular presence in the country.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said it would not comment on individual cases, adding: “Every request for consular assistance is considered on a case by case basis.