ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi government on Tuesday repatriated nearly 200 families affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) from al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s (Rojava) Hasaka province, a war monitor reported.
“176 Iraqi families, with an estimated number of 634 individuals from ISIS families left al-Hol camp towards Iraq,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
Their repatriation is part of an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), the monitor added, with the end goal being the removal of all Iraqi families from the camp.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province since the defeat of the terror group in 2019. The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in March said that around 20,000 Iraqis below the age of 18 are still at al-Hol. He described them as “time bombs.”
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.
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.
“176 Iraqi families, with an estimated number of 634 individuals from ISIS families left al-Hol camp towards Iraq,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
Their repatriation is part of an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), the monitor added, with the end goal being the removal of all Iraqi families from the camp.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province since the defeat of the terror group in 2019. The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in March said that around 20,000 Iraqis below the age of 18 are still at al-Hol. He described them as “time bombs.”
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.
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.
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