Rojava official: We've 'started the process' of removing Syrian nationals from al-Hol camp

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdish-led authorities of northeast Syria (Rojava) have "started the process" of removing Syrian nationals from al-Hol camp, one of its senior officials told Rudaw on Tuesday night, following last week's announcement of a general amnesty for prisoners in Rojava.

"Removal of Syrians from the camp is being done by the Autonomous Administration [of North and East Syria, the NES]. The camp management and the Autonomous Administration and the [Syrian Democratic Council, SDC] are in charge of the process," said Elham Ahmad, President of the Executive Committee of the SDC.

The local monitor Rojava Information Center (RIC) shared a video on Tuesday night purportedly showing the return of some of a group of 289 people to their homes in the Deir-ez-Zor region, and said it followed "AANES' announcement of a general amnesty for Syrians being held there."

The SDC is the political arm of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Rojava's military force. The SDF captured thousands of ISIS-affiliated people during clashes with the group between 2014 and 2019. Men are kept in prisons, while women and children are kept at the al-Hol and Roj camps in the Hasaka province of northeast Syria.

Approximately 68,000 people, both Syrians and foreigners, live in al-Hol camp. Nearly two thirds, around 43,000, are children. Roughly 10,000 non-Iraqi foreigners live at the camp.

Rojava's authorities have repeatedly called on the international community to take back their citizens, but few countries have heeded the call.

"Concerning the foreigners, it will be discussed with their own countries," Ahmed said, describing repatriation of foreigners as "difficult."

Ahmad said earlier this month that the NES will abdicate responsibility for the remaining foreign nationals in the overcrowded tent city, which she described as a “heavy burden" on the administration's shoulders.

Rojava on Saturday announced its second prison amnesty in the space of five months. Though it excludes commanders and trainers of terrorist organizations including ISIS, the amnesty does include "low-level" members of the group "whose behavior has been exemplary in prison and who no longer represent any danger for society," the RIC told Radio France Internationale earlier this week.

An amnesty issued by the NES on May 17 for the advent of Eid al-Fitr excluded people detained for terrorism-related charges.