Over 900 families returned from Syria’s Al-Camp to Iraq so far, says ministry

More than 650 people have recently come back from the camp as well, Al-Nouri said.
A woman accompanies a child toward a plane before being repatriated to Russia, at the airport of the city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, Oct. 20, 2022. (Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP)
A woman accompanies a child toward a plane before being repatriated to Russia, at the airport of the city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, Oct. 20, 2022. (Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – More than 900 families have so far returned back to Iraq from Syria’s displaced camp of Al-Hol Camp, an official from the migration ministry said on Saturday.

Around 80 percent of the returnees have gone back to their places of origin after undergoing a rehabilitation process at Al-Jad’a Camp in Nineveh Province, Karim Al-Nouri, the deputy minister of migration and displacement, told the state media on Saturday.

More than 650 people have recently come back from the camp as well, Al-Nouri said.

A total of 11 organizations are working along with the government in the rehabilitation, according to the official.

Located in northeast Syria and run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the camp has been hosting family members of the suspected ISIS fighters whose self-proclaimed caliphate was brought down in 2019 by the Kurdish and international forces in the country.

The camp’s population consists of diverse nationalities, including Iraqis and Europeans.

France on Thursday announced that it had repatriated 40 children and 15 women from the camp.

The issue of repatriation of European nationals has become a public debate since the active fight against the terror group has ended. Rights groups and the United Nations have expressed concerns over inaction in the process, describing the facility as a “ticking bomb”.