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Despite the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in eastern Syrian in March, officials must continue to deal with the group’s reign of terror in al-Hol detention camp, where more than 73,000 people are living. In particular, the fate of foreign fighters’ wives and children remains an international concern.
The majority arrived in early 2019 as Kurdish forces closed in on the last Islamic State (ISIS) holdout of Baghouz putting camp infrastructure under significant strain. According to UN figures, the camp population consists of Iraqis (43%), Syrians (42%) and third-country nationals (15%).
Those not from Iraq and Syria present problems for camp and local officials as repatriation varies greatly by their country of origin. It is further complicated by the fact that 91 percent of the camp’s residents are women and children, 65 percent are under age 12, and 20,000 are children under the age of 5.
On June 2, Norway announced the repatriation of five children from Syria. Their Oslo-bound flight left Erbil on Monday.
However, some 3,000 children are unaccompanied or separated from their families and around 11,000 children haven’t attended school since the ISIS conflict began in 2014.
The majority arrived in early 2019 as Kurdish forces closed in on the last Islamic State (ISIS) holdout of Baghouz putting camp infrastructure under significant strain. According to UN figures, the camp population consists of Iraqis (43%), Syrians (42%) and third-country nationals (15%).
Those not from Iraq and Syria present problems for camp and local officials as repatriation varies greatly by their country of origin. It is further complicated by the fact that 91 percent of the camp’s residents are women and children, 65 percent are under age 12, and 20,000 are children under the age of 5.
On June 2, Norway announced the repatriation of five children from Syria. Their Oslo-bound flight left Erbil on Monday.
However, some 3,000 children are unaccompanied or separated from their families and around 11,000 children haven’t attended school since the ISIS conflict began in 2014.
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