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Syria
Syrian women and children await to leave al-Hol camp in northeast Syria on March 18, 2021. Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eleven Swedish nationals with suspected links to the Islamic State (ISIS) were repatriated from al-Hol camp on Wednesday, a senior official said days after the United Kingdom took back a number of British children in response to the repeated calls from international watchdogs and Kurdish officials for governments to take responsibility for their citizens being held in northeast Syria (Rojava).
Three women and eight children were handed over to a Swedish delegation on Wednesday, co-chair of Rojava’s foreign relations department Abdulkarim Omar said on Thursday.
Thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children were detained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) when they territorially defeated the group in Syria in 2019. About 60,000 family members of the fighters are being held in two camps, al-Hol and Roj. Most are Iraqi and Syrian, but they also include nationals from dozens of countries.
Kurdish officials have made repeated calls to the international community to repatriate their citizens from these overcrowded camps where children are exposed to ISIS ideology, but many governments are hesitant to do so, citing security concerns.
Human rights groups have previously warned of squalid conditions in the camp, described as “filthy and often inhuman” by Human Rights Watch.
Seventy-three people, including two children, were murdered in al-Hol this year, Save the Children said last month.
The United Kingdom repatriated three British children from the camp on Monday. Germany and Denmark also took back a total of 48 of their nationals earlier this month.
Three women and eight children were handed over to a Swedish delegation on Wednesday, co-chair of Rojava’s foreign relations department Abdulkarim Omar said on Thursday.
Thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children were detained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) when they territorially defeated the group in Syria in 2019. About 60,000 family members of the fighters are being held in two camps, al-Hol and Roj. Most are Iraqi and Syrian, but they also include nationals from dozens of countries.
Kurdish officials have made repeated calls to the international community to repatriate their citizens from these overcrowded camps where children are exposed to ISIS ideology, but many governments are hesitant to do so, citing security concerns.
Human rights groups have previously warned of squalid conditions in the camp, described as “filthy and often inhuman” by Human Rights Watch.
Seventy-three people, including two children, were murdered in al-Hol this year, Save the Children said last month.
The United Kingdom repatriated three British children from the camp on Monday. Germany and Denmark also took back a total of 48 of their nationals earlier this month.
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