Four thousand Iraqis return from al-Hol camp: Ministry
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s ministry of migration and displaced announced on Tuesday that four thousand people have been repatriated from the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria housing Islamic State (ISIS) suspects, as Baghdad continues the repatriation of nationals from the camp.
“The Iraqi government has begun the process of rehabilitating the returned displaced –persons after conducting a comprehensive security check on them,” Karim al-Nouri, undersecretary for the Iraqi ministry of migration and displaced, told state media. “About four thousand Iraqis have been returned.”
Nouri said that individuals who have “blood in their hands” and are considered security threats are not granted a return to Iraq.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s (Rojava) Hasaka province since the defeat of the jihadists in 2019. The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
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.
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 Iraqi government has begun the process of rehabilitating the returned displaced –persons after conducting a comprehensive security check on them,” Karim al-Nouri, undersecretary for the Iraqi ministry of migration and displaced, told state media. “About four thousand Iraqis have been returned.”
Nouri said that individuals who have “blood in their hands” and are considered security threats are not granted a return to Iraq.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s (Rojava) Hasaka province since the defeat of the jihadists in 2019. The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
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.
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.