Iraqi delegation arrives in northeast Syria for repatriations

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/03/09 18:06

Women walk in the Roj detention camp in northeast Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. Syrian Kurdish authorities are struggling to supervise tens of thousands of ISIS-affiliated foreign nationals who they are holding in camps and prisons across

Syria AANES Al-Hol Camp Qasim al-Araji Hasakah

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi delegation arrived in northeast Syria on Wednesday to discuss developing a coordination mechanism to repatriate more Iraqi refugees in Al-Hol camp in Al-Hasakah's southeastern countryside, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported.

The delegation reportedly hasn't visited al-Hol camp yet.

Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji warned earlier that the children of ISIS militants in Syria's notorious al-Hol camp pose a "real threat" if the situation there doesn't change.

On Mar. 3, hundreds of Iraqi families left northeast Syria and returned to Iraq through the al-Yaroubiya border crossing.

An Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) official told AFP that around 800 Iraqis returned.

Also, on Jan. 28, around 490 persons were repatriated to Iraq.

Repatriating families with ISIS links from Syria to Iraq is part of an agreement between the Kurdish-led AANES in northeast Syria and the government in Baghdad.

The Permanent Representative of Iraq to the UN, Ambassador Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Uloom, told the UN Security Council in late February that since "May 2021, as many as 1,900 terrorists have also been repatriated from Syrian camps."

According to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Al Hol is the largest camp for refugees and internally displaced people in Syria, consisting of about 56,000 people. Last year, the camp had 62,000 inhabitants.

Most of al-Hol's residents are Iraqis and Syrians, but the camp also includes many foreign families thought to have links to the Islamic State.

The local authorities have attempted to reduce pressure on the displacement camps in northeast Syria by repatriating Iraqis and allowing displaced Syrians to return to their places of origin. Also, the US-led coalition has pushed for the repatriation of Iraqi citizens from Syria.

They have also called on foreign countries to repatriate their citizens. A number of countries have repatriated women, children, and orphans.