Iraq Repatriates 15,000 from Al-Hol, Vows to Return 18,000 More
Iraq has repatriated 15,000 citizens from Syria's al-Hol camp and plans to return 18,000 more pending security screening. A top official declared the rehabilitation and reintegration of 10,000 returnees a "success."
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement has announced the repatriation of 15,000 of its citizens from Syria's al-Hol camp, with a senior official confirming the ongoing process to return the remaining 18,000 Iraqis and declaring the rehabilitation effort for returnees a success.
The update on the complex and sensitive operation was provided on Sunday by Karim al-Nouri, the Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement.
Speaking to local Iraqi media, Nouri stated, "The process of returning the displaced from the al-Hol camp is still ongoing to reunite them and transfer them back to their homes."
He provided a detailed breakdown of the numbers, confirming that of the 15,000 Iraqis repatriated to date, 10,000 have completed a rehabilitation phase and have been returned to their original home regions. The remaining 5,000 are currently housed in the Jad'ah camp in Iraq, where they will "undergo rehabilitation before being returned to their homes and reintegrated into society."
Nouri framed the operation as a significant achievement for the Iraqi government. "We have returned the majority of our Iraqis from the al-Hol camp to their home regions, which is a positive sign, and we have been successful in rehabilitating them into the community," he said.
Looking ahead, the undersecretary outlined the government's plan for the thousands of Iraqis still in Syria. "Approximately 18,000 people remain in the al-Hol camp, and as soon as an opportunity arises after they undergo security screening, we will return them as well," Nouri added.
The al-Hol camp, located in Syria's Hasakah province, is under the control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and is guarded by approximately 400 fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The camp's population is composed largely of "ISIS fighters and their families," according to the ministry's background information. A count from April 2019 put the number of detainees at 74,000, the majority being women and children from various countries, with significant populations from Syria and Iraq. The facility was originally established in early 1991 during the second Gulf War to house Iraqi refugees.
