Iraq
Al-Hol camp in Hasaka, northeastern Syria (Rojava) on December 6, 2021. Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq is set to repatriate more than 150 people from northeast Syria’s (Rojava) al-Hol camp at the beginning of next year, the displacement and migration minister said on Thursday, adding that there are currently over 8,000 Iraqi families in the notorious camp.
Iraqis have made up more than half of the population of al-Hol camp in Rojava’s Hasaka province for years. The camp houses over 50,000 residents, most of which are wives and children of the Islamic State (ISIS) fighters.
“We have over 8,000 families in al-Hol camp. The process of their repatriation will resume from the beginning of next year,” Ivan Fayaq, Iraq’s displacement and migration minister, told reporters on Thursday, adding “over 150 people will be repatriated at the beginning of next year to al-Jada camp.”
Fayaq said that the individuals will be repatriated following the completion of security checks, stressing that they will especially focus on repatriating women and children that have “no connection to ISIS at all.”
The individuals will undergo a rehabilitation program for at least a month inside al-Jada camp before returning to their original places of residence, she added.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children when they took control of the group's last stronghold in Syria in March 2019.
Al-Hol camp has been branded a breeding ground for ISIS and described as a "ticking time bomb" by Kurdish and Iraqi authorities.
Iraqis have made up more than half of the population of al-Hol camp in Rojava’s Hasaka province for years. The camp houses over 50,000 residents, most of which are wives and children of the Islamic State (ISIS) fighters.
“We have over 8,000 families in al-Hol camp. The process of their repatriation will resume from the beginning of next year,” Ivan Fayaq, Iraq’s displacement and migration minister, told reporters on Thursday, adding “over 150 people will be repatriated at the beginning of next year to al-Jada camp.”
Fayaq said that the individuals will be repatriated following the completion of security checks, stressing that they will especially focus on repatriating women and children that have “no connection to ISIS at all.”
The individuals will undergo a rehabilitation program for at least a month inside al-Jada camp before returning to their original places of residence, she added.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children when they took control of the group's last stronghold in Syria in March 2019.
Al-Hol camp has been branded a breeding ground for ISIS and described as a "ticking time bomb" by Kurdish and Iraqi authorities.
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