Today, Sunday, April 28, Iraq recovered a new batch of Iraqi families from the al-Hol camp in the east of al-Hasakah city, northeast Syria.

Hawar news agency, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), reported that as part of the coordination between the Autonomous Administration, the Security Committee, and the Migration and Displaced Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, the second batch of Iraqis, comprising 714 individuals within 191 Iraqi families, departed from al-Hol camp.

The second batch departed at two o’clock in the afternoon today, headed for Iraqi territory, under strict protection by the Internal Security Forces (Asayish).

In the same context, the Kurdish Rudaw news agency reported yesterday, Saturday, that the spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displaced, Ali Abbas, stated that 192 families, consisting of 750 people, will be returned from the al-Hol camp to Iraq, without specifying a date for that, for security reasons, explaining that a security committee will oversee the verification of names and preparations for their return.

It is planned for the returnees to stay in the al-Jadaa camp in Nineveh province for a period of time, aimed at rehabilitating them to integrate into their communities before returning them to their homes. More than 8000 Iraqis have been returned from al-Hol in batches, the most recent of which was on March 9, including 622 individuals.

Threat to the population

In the same context, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) faction in the Iraqi Parliament, Vian Dakhil, said today, Sunday, that the transfer of families of Islamic State fighters from al-Hol camp to al-Jadaa poses a threat to the residents of the area surrounding the camp.

Dakhil added during an interview with Kurdistan 24 website that the federal government, over the past three years, has transferred families of Islamic State fighters from al-Hol camp to al-Jadaa, which poses a threat to the residents, especially the Yazidi Kurds, considering it negative and reopening their wounds, according to her statement.

The al-Hol camp, managed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), houses about 50,000 people, mainly women and children from Syrians and Iraqis, and more than 10,000 foreigners from around 60 other countries.

On August 14 of the past year, the Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria announced its intention to establish special centers for the rehabilitation and education of minors from Islamic State prisoners in its areas of influence, due to the “severity of the issue in dealing with minors from the organization.”

The year 2022 saw significant activity in countries recovering their nationals from the al-Roj and al-Hol camps, with 13 foreign countries recovering their nationals from the camps.