Iraqi found murdered in Syria’s al-Hol camp: monitor
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An Iraqi refugee was found murdered in northeast Syria’s al-Hol camp on Friday, according to local reports. More than a dozen people have been killed this year in the camp that houses tens of thousands of displaced Syrians and foreigners, including many family members of Islamic State (ISIS) members.
North Press Agency identified the murdered man as 30-year-old Farouk Khalaf Hardan and said he was shot in the head.
According to the UK-based conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the victim was an informant for the security forces.
Al-Hol houses nearly 62,000 refugees and displaced Syrians, the largest camp in the country. More than 80 percent of them are women and children. Foreigners in the camp are families of ISIS members. Most have been living in the camp since the territorial defeat of the group in 2019.
There are fears that the camp is a breeding ground of support for ISIS, especially among the tens of thousands of children living there. The UN’s counterterrorism chief recently called the situation of children in the camp as “one of the most pressing issues in the world today.”
To ease the burden, the administration of the autonomous region in northeast Syria, known as Rojava, have released some Syrian families, allowing them to return home.
European nations have largely resisted repatriating their nationals, citing security concerns and making case-by-case exceptions for children. Iraq had considered taking back its citizens and housing them in camps within its borders, but the deputy minister of displacement and migration recently said that would be a “dangerous” move.
North Press Agency identified the murdered man as 30-year-old Farouk Khalaf Hardan and said he was shot in the head.
According to the UK-based conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the victim was an informant for the security forces.
Al-Hol houses nearly 62,000 refugees and displaced Syrians, the largest camp in the country. More than 80 percent of them are women and children. Foreigners in the camp are families of ISIS members. Most have been living in the camp since the territorial defeat of the group in 2019.
There are fears that the camp is a breeding ground of support for ISIS, especially among the tens of thousands of children living there. The UN’s counterterrorism chief recently called the situation of children in the camp as “one of the most pressing issues in the world today.”
To ease the burden, the administration of the autonomous region in northeast Syria, known as Rojava, have released some Syrian families, allowing them to return home.
European nations have largely resisted repatriating their nationals, citing security concerns and making case-by-case exceptions for children. Iraq had considered taking back its citizens and housing them in camps within its borders, but the deputy minister of displacement and migration recently said that would be a “dangerous” move.