Iraq to repatriate 150 families from notorious al-Hol camp

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A batch of 150 Iraqi families will be repatriated to Nineveh from northeast Syria’s (Rojava) notorious al-Hol camp in early July, an official from the northern province told Rudaw on Monday.

“From July 1 until July 5, as per an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, 150 families which account for around 600 people are set to be brought to Jada-1 camp near Mosul in Nineveh province from al-Hol camp,” Deputy Governor of Nineveh Rafaat Smo told Rudaw’s Hemin Baban. 

He added that at the beginning of this month, 178 other families were repatriated from Syria and placed in al-Jada camp which is often seen as a rehabilitation center before the families return to their areas of origin.

“On June 21, 2022, the decision was made for 89 families from al-Jada to be returned to their areas in Iraq after receiving mental care,” Smo said.

Al-Jada, in Nineveh province, is one of just two camps still open in areas under federal Iraqi control. The camp mainly houses families with suspected links to the Islamic State group (ISIS), and has recently received ISIS-affiliated families from al-Hol camp in Syria.

In 2020, the Iraqi government began a push to close 17 camps around the country, three years after the defeat of ISIS, including in the Kurdistan Region. The government has been criticized for this policy. 

The 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 are being kept at the sprawling al-Hol camp, which Iraqi and Kurdish officials describe as a "ticking time bomb."  

There have been repeated calls from Kurdish and US officials requesting the international community to repatriate their nationals from al-Hol, but only a few countries have responded positively as they are worried about security concerns.

Six Belgian women and 16 children affiliated with ISIS in Rojava were handed over to Belgium's foreign ministry on Monday. 

Around 450 families were transferred to al-Jada camp from al-Hol in April, where they will then be returned on the basis of bails from relatives and tribal leaders. 

Updated at 11:00 am