3 arrested in large-scale security campaign in Syria’s al-Hol camp

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Internal Security Forces (Asayish in Kurdish) have arrested three people as part of a large-scale security campaign in northeast Syria’s infamous al-Hol camp, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported on Friday.

The SOHR report said that security forces arrested three people involved “in assassinations and attacks carried out inside the camp.”

Murders and insecurity have long plagued the overcrowded sprawling camp. According to data from SOHR, at least four people were killed by ISIS cells there in June.

Moreover, on Thursday, alleged ISIS cells shot and injured a Syrian woman in the camp. 

According to a report on Thursday by the Global Protection Cluster (GPC), a network of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies, al-Hol currently hosts 55,000 people, including Syrians, Iraqis, and other nationalities. 

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has attempted to return Iraqi refugees to the al-Hol camp in coordination with Baghdad.

Moreover, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) also launched an initiative two years ago to have displaced Syrians in the camp return to their homes with guarantees from Arab leaders.

Even though lists of people wishing to depart the al-Hol have been shared with the camp’s administration for approval, there have been no return trips for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from there since Dec. 13, noted a report on the situation in al-Hol by the Protection Working Group (PWG). 

The AANES has repeatedly called on foreign countries to repatriate their nationals.