( CNN ) A group of foreign medical students are thought to have traveled to Syria to work in ISIS-controlled hospitals , a Turkish lawmaker told CNN Sunday . The group of 11 people includes seven Britons , an American , a Canadian and two Sudanese , Mehmet Ali Ediboglu said . Ediboglu , an opposition Turkish lawmaker , told The Observer that he had spoken with the students ' families , who were convinced their loved ones wanted to work for ISIS and were asking him for help tracking them down in neighboring Syria . `` They have been cheated , brainwashed . That is what I , and their relatives , think , '' Ediboglu said , according to the newspaper . But he also stressed that the group did not travel with the intention of joining the battle . `` Let 's not forget about the fact that they are doctors , '' he told The Observer . `` They went there to help , not to fight . '' Eight of the group are medical students who 've just graduated and three others are in their final year of medical school , he said . They 'd been studying in Khartoum , Sudan . Now , at least seven of their mothers and fathers are living near the Turkey-Syria border , pleading for their return , according to The Observer . In an interview published Monday in Turkey 's Hürriyet Daily News , the group of parents said they were worried and vowed not to leave Turkey without their children . Dr. Maumoon Abdulqadir said he was sending a message to his daughter , Lena , who is one of the students . `` I know you want to help people and be of use . But you can do this in another way , '' he told the newspaper . `` There are many who need your help . But this is not the way . Please , come back . '' British officials said they are aware of the report . `` We are providing consular assistance to their families and we have informed the Turkish police to try and ascertain their whereabouts , '' the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office said in a statement . Officials have warned that a growing number of foreign fighters are traveling to join ISIS ' ranks . Estimates about how many medical personnel the group has recruited are harder to come by . Last year , a 19-year-old Colorado woman was arrested at Denver International Airport as she was about to embark on a journey to an ISIS camp , where she hoped to serve as a nurse . CNN 's Nimet Kirac and Radina Gigova contributed to this report .
Worried father sends message to daughter : `` Please , come back '' Lawmaker : Med students ' family members believe they wanted to work for ISIS . `` They have been cheated , brainwashed , '' the Turkish lawmaker says .