ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Baghdad plans to repatriate all Iraqi nationals currently being held in camps for people with links to the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria (Rojava) by 2027, the spokesperson of the migration and displaced ministry said on Friday.
"Our ministry has reached an agreement with the United Nations regarding the solution for Iraqi families in al-Hol camp. According to the agreement, by 2027, no Iraqi families will remain in that camp and all of them will be returned," Ali Abbas told Rudaw.
"Since 2021, more than 2,600 Iraqi families from al-Hol camp have been returned, and the process will continue until the last family is returned," he added.
According to the latest statistics from the ministry, more than 20,000 Iraqis, including women and children, remain in al-Hol camp.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people being held at the camp, which has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
Qasim al-Araji, Iraq’s national security advisor, said during an event on Thursday that Iraq "has made a courageous decision to return its citizens from Syria's al-Hol camp, which represents a ticking bomb threatening Iraqi national security and the security of the region and world," according to a statement from his office.
He called on all countries to follow suit - a call Kurdish authorities in Rojava and Americans have been making for years.
The repatriation of ISIS-linked citizens has sparked opposition in Iraq. Some tribes and communities are unwilling to accept people associated with the group that committed heinous human rights abuses and war crimes from 2014 to 2017, when they controlled vast swathes of the country.
Most repatriated individuals are temporarily housed in al-Jada camp in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, to be prepared for reintegration into their communities.
