‘Ten Countries Commit to Repatriating Citizens from Syria's Al-Hol Camp’ Iraqi Official
Coordinated Efforts Accelerate as International and Iraqi Authorities Work to Resolve Camp's Complex Humanitarian Challenges
Jan 11, 2025
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Yasir Watoot, a member of the Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Committee, announced on Friday that ten countries have agreed to repatriate their nationals from the al-Hol camp in Syria.
"These nations have aligned with Iraq’s strategy to dismantle the camp and return their citizens to their home countries," Watoot disclosed.
According to Watoot, the camp currently hosts approximately 30,000 inhabitants from 60 different nations, posing a direct security threat to Iraq. Following the defeat of ISIS in 2017, Iraq has repatriated over 2,000 of its own citizens from Al-Hol to a facility near Ninewa Province in northern Iraq.
United Nations data indicates that Al-Hol camp is home to around 54,000 people, including close to 20,000 Iraqis, predominantly women and children. Many residents are either relatives of ISIS fighters or individuals displaced by ongoing conflicts in Syria and the battle against ISIS. The camp also shelters numerous foreign families suspected of having ties to ISIS.
On Wednesday, a coordinated initiative between the Iraqi government and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) facilitated the departure of 192 Iraqi families, totaling 715 individuals, from Al-Hol. This operation marks the 19th batch of Iraqi families to leave the camp since such efforts commenced and represents the first such transfer in 2025.
The repatriation process involved extensive vetting of the families, who were then transported back to Iraq in buses arranged through collaboration with Iraqi authorities.