600 Iraqi citizens prepared to leave al-Hol camp
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that nearly 150 families are being prepared to return to Iraq.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Around 600 Iraqi people of nearly 150 families are being prepared to leave Al-Hol camp, a war monitor reported on Sunday.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that nearly 150 families are being prepared to return to Iraq in coordination with the Iraqi government.
Read More: Iraqi delegation discusses repatriation of Iraqis from Syria's al-Hol camp
On Aug. 7, a delegation of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry visited Al-Hol camp and met with the local Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria (AANES) to discuss the mechanism of returning 150 Iraqi families monthly from al-Hol camp to Iraq.
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.
“Iraqi citizens constitute the 50% of the al-Hol camp’s population and children are the largest part of the Iraqi population in the camps,” Mehmet Balci, Co-Director at Fight For Humanity, a Switzerland based international NGO, earlier told Kurdistan 24.
“Iraq should take all action possible and bring back as soon as possible its citizens.”
Read More: 94 Syrian families leave al-Hol camp to return to Raqqa
Recently, the Internal Security Forces (a.k.a. Asayish in Kurdish) arrested 12 women and seven children of ISIS families while they were attempting to flee from the al-Hol camp.
Moreover, earlier this week 94 Syrian families left al-Hol camp and returned to Raqqa.