Iraqi authorities relocate hundreds of foreign IS families, push to begin legal proceedings

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi authorities have relocated hundreds of foreign wives and children of Islamic State (IS) militants from a detention center in northern Iraq to Baghdad, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The IS family members were moved after Iraqi officials cited “security concerns and the difficulties of keeping them in a remote location.”

Over 800 women and children—mostly from Turkey, Europe, and former Soviet states—have been moved to a secure detention facility in Baghdad, Mohammed al-Bayati, the head of Mosul’s provincial council security and defense committee said.

Iraqi authorities started relocating the families several days ago, although about 700 more are still being kept at a facility in the northern town of Tal Keif, Bayati added. The government intends to move all of them to Baghdad by the end of the week.

Most of the women and children have been in detention since Aug. 30 when over 1,300 surrendered to Peshmerga forces after the militant group was defeated in Tal Afar.

According to Sara al-Zawqari, the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Iraq, the number has increased as more foreign nationals surrendered or have been detained.

The ICRC was the only aid group given regular access to the women and children in Tal Keif, 10 kilometers northeast of Mosul, providing them with humanitarian services.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has pushed to begin legal proceedings to decide the fate of the detainees and end their imprisonment, local officials and aid agency sources said.

“The government should find a way of deciding their future and what to do with them,” Abdul Rahman al-Wagga, a local councilor in Mosul, said.

Zawqari, however, stressed that “these foreign women and children have the right to a fair trial.”

“If they need to be repatriated, all parties involved should also ensure they have these rights and are treated with respect and dignity,” she added.

Officials from the interior ministry in Baghdad said they have been contacting home countries to facilitate the return of the foreign prisoners, but admit it has been a struggle.

Editing by Sam A.