150 Iraqi families leave al-Hol camp and return to Iraq: SOHR

"A new batch of nearly 150 Iraqi families of nearly 600 persons have been evacuated from al-Hol camp back to Iraq."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2023/09/15 10:53

Women residents from former Islamic State-held areas in Syria, line up for aid supplies at Al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province, Syria, on March 31, 2019 (Photo: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Wednesday that a new batch of nearly 150 Iraqi families comprising 600 persons have been evacuated from al-Hol camp back to Iraq.

The Iraqi families were transported on buses to Iraq after succesful efforts by the Iraqi authorities and in coordination with the Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria (AANES) to repatriate them to Iraq.

A delegation of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry visited al-Hol Camp in eastern Al-Hasakah on Aug. 7 and met the administration of the camp. They discussed the mechanism of returning 150 Iraqi families monthly from the camp to Iraq, in coordination with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The al-Hol camp is infamous for sheltering numerous families associated with ISIS, creating conditions for radicalization of other internally displaced persons at the camp.

The camp currently houses nearly 50,000 Iraqi, Syrian, and foreign nationals.