Qasim al-Araji received Steve Fagin, the new charge d'affaires of the US Embassy in Baghdad, on Tuesday to discuss a range of issues, including the fate of thousands of families, almost half of whom are Iraqis, from the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava).
“Regarding the Syrian al-Hol camp file, Mr. al-Araji confirmed that the Iraqi government will hold a conference in Geneva next September for the repatriation of families from the camp to their countries,” Araji’s office said in a statement.
About 10,000 Iraqis remain in the camp after the group of 832 people left on Saturday, Sheikhmous Ahmed, who oversees all internally displaced persons (IDP) and refugee camps in Rojava, told Rudaw English.
Thousands of individuals with suspected ISIS ties are being held in al-Hol and Roj camps, which are controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in northeast Syria’s (Rojava) Hasaka province. Al-Hol is the larger of the two camps. As of April, it housed 34,927 people. Of these, 15,681 were Iraqis, 15,861 were Syrians, and 6,385 were foreigners, according to data obtained by Rudaw English from Ahmed.
Iraq has repatriated its nationals in groups, bringing them to al-Jada camp south of Mosul, where they go through a rehabilitation program before reintegrating into the community. Baghdad has set a goal of repatriating all Iraqi citizens from camps in Rojava by 2027.
