Over 300 ISIS-affiliated people leave al-Hol camp

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 300 people affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) have left the notorious al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria (Rojava) to return to their homes in Raqqa on Wednesday, according to local media.

A total of 324 people from 92 families were allowed to exit, marking the 18th batch of residents leaving the camp, Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported. 

The process of sending the people back from al-Hol will “continue gradually to reduce the economic and security burdens that the Autonomous Administration bears in al-Hol,” ANHA cited Sheikhmus Ahmed, who supervises the administration of Rojava's IDP and refugee camps as saying.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Most of these people are held at al-Hol which is home to over 60,000 people - mostly women and children from different nationalities.

There have been several repeated calls from Kurdish and US officials asking the international community to repatriate their nationals from overcrowded camps where children are exposed to an extremist ideology. But only a few countries have responded positively. Most are worried about security concerns and are generally limiting repatriations, even for children. The United Nations in February called on 57 member states to repatriate their nationals.  

Rojava handed over two ISIS-linked orphans to the Palestinian consulate in Erbil last month and 16 people, including 10 children to Brussels in July. 

Nearly 300 people left the camp on July 15.