ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s migration and displaced ministry on Saturday said that there are nearly 18,000 Iraqi nationals remaining in the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) housing suspects linked to the Islamic State (ISIS), as Iraq continues to repatriate its nationals.
“About 18,000 Iraqis still remain in the [al-Hol] camp, and about 4,500 to 5,000 families have been returned,” Ali Abbas, spokesperson for Iraq’s ministry of migration and displaced, told Rudaw.
He said that a decision has been made to repatriate an additional 150 to 160 families, and while “preparations have been made for their return, the date of their return is unknown.”
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province since the defeat of the jihadists in 2019. The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
The repatriation of ISIS-linked citizens has sparked opposition in Iraq, with tribes unwilling to accept and welcome 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 resettled in al-Jada camp in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, to be prepared for reintegration into their communities and then returned to their hometowns.
Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria have repeatedly called on the international community to repatriate their nationals from the camps, but their calls have largely gone unanswered as most countries are unwilling to bring back their citizens due to security concerns.
“About 18,000 Iraqis still remain in the [al-Hol] camp, and about 4,500 to 5,000 families have been returned,” Ali Abbas, spokesperson for Iraq’s ministry of migration and displaced, told Rudaw.
He said that a decision has been made to repatriate an additional 150 to 160 families, and while “preparations have been made for their return, the date of their return is unknown.”
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province since the defeat of the jihadists in 2019. The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
The repatriation of ISIS-linked citizens has sparked opposition in Iraq, with tribes unwilling to accept and welcome 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 resettled in al-Jada camp in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, to be prepared for reintegration into their communities and then returned to their hometowns.
Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria have repeatedly called on the international community to repatriate their nationals from the camps, but their calls have largely gone unanswered as most countries are unwilling to bring back their citizens due to security concerns.
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