Nearly 200 Iraqi families repatriated from al-Hol camp in Syria
Shafaq News/ At least 192 Iraqi families, or 776 people, left the Syrian Al-Hol camp, which notably houses relatives of jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group, to return to Iraq, an Iraqi security official announced on Sunday.
The day before, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) had confirmed the departure of buses carrying these Iraqi families from al-Hol, in north-east Syria. Upon their arrival in Iraq, these nationals are held for several weeks, even several months, in al-Jadaa camp, before being able to return to their region of origin.
Nearly 50,000 people live in the dilapidated and overcrowded al-Hol camp, under Kurdish administration. These are displaced Syrians, Iraqi refugees and more than 10,000 foreigners from around sixty countries, families of ISIS jihadists.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Iraqi security official confirmed the return of "192 families, or 776 people," explaining that the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displaced Persons was coordinating these repatriations with the semi-autonomous authorities.
The return to Iraq of relatives of jihadists continues to cause controversy among a population part of which was martyred for three years by the abuses of ISIS, an ultra-radical organization which occupied up to a third of Iraqi territory from 2014 and until 2017.
To moderate the hostility that may await these families returning from Syria, they are first housed in Jadaa where, according to officials, they undergo "psychological rehabilitation" aimed at ensuring that they pose no jihadist danger, besides security checks.
Despite the challenges, Iraq is one of the rare countries to regularly repatriate its nationals from al-Hol, a commitment welcomed by both the UN and the United States.
More than 1,500 Iraqi families were transferred from al-Hol to Jadaa, Iraqi national security adviser Qassem al-Aaraji announced in early November, cited by the state news agency INA. He specified that 900 families had already been authorized to return home.
