Sema
On Monday, Iraq repatriated 240 Iraqi families believed to have ties to the Islamic State (ISIS) from the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
SOHR reported that a total of 858 individuals were moved from the camp in Hasaka province back to Iraq after coordination between the camp administration, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), the security committee, and Iraq’s Parliamentary Committee on Immigration and Displacement.
The transfer was carried out by Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement.
Ministry spokesperson Ali Jahangir told Rudaw that all those returning are first taken to the al-Jadaa camp in Nineveh, where they complete a rehabilitation program before being authorized to go back to their home communities.
With this latest departure, the population of al-Hol has fallen below 25,000, a sharp decrease from more than 60,000 after ISIS lost its last territory.
Al-Hol has long had a reputation for harsh conditions and a concentration of radicalized individuals, leading many to describe it as a breeding ground for extremism. While most residents are Iraqi and Syrian, the camp also holds thousands of foreigners who joined ISIS or lived under its rule.
In September, Iraq convened a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to push forward efforts to empty and close al-Hol. The meeting led to the creation of a US-led task cell aimed at speeding up the repatriation of foreign nationals.
Despite global calls for action, many countries still refuse to take back their citizens due to security concerns.
Iraq has reached an agreement with the United Nations stating that no Iraqi families will remain in al-Hol by 2027, with all to be gradually repatriated in phases.