Iraq to transfer new group of ISIS families from Al-Hol to Mosul

Shafaq Shafaq/ A new group of ISIS families from Syria’s Al-Hol camp is set to be transferred to Iraq’s Mosul within the coming weeks, a government source in Nineveh governorate confirmed, on Wednesday.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that between 150 to 180 families are expected to be moved to Al-Jadaa camp, south of Mosul, following coordination with Iraqi security forces and security screenings.

“Hundreds of families remain in the Syrian camp awaiting return to Iraq,” the source added, noting that over 20,000 Iraqis are still residing in Al-Hol.

The Kurdish-run al-Hol camp in northeast Syria was home to more than 50,000 people, including family members of suspected ISIS militants, as well as displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, before repatriation efforts began in 2021. It is the largest camp for displaced people who fled after ISIS was dislodged from its last stronghold in Syria in 2019 and remains one of the biggest unresolved humanitarian issues in the region.

More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis, and foreigners from at least 45 countries remain in the squalid and overcrowded camp, according to official tallies. Iraqis are the largest nationality among them, followed by Syrians.

For years, Iraqi authorities have pushed for the closure of al-Hol, which is located close to the Iraqi border, citing security concerns. The UN has also been calling on governments to repatriate more of their citizens.

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasem al-Araji has been leading the government’s efforts to repatriate Iraqis, pushing foreign governments to do the same and urging rapid dismantlement of the camp.

Since May 2021, hundreds of Iraqi families have been repatriated.

Between then and March this year, more than 1,920 Iraqi families have been transferred so far to Al-Jadaa camp, al-Araji said in March. “The figure includes 1,230 families who had been allowed to return home,” he said.

Repatriation of family members of suspected ISIS members has stirred controversy in Iraq, where the extremist group had seized large swathes of land before being defeated in late 2017. The group committed atrocities in Mosul and other areas of northern Iraq it controlled, including the targeting of minority groups such as the Yazidis.

Some Iraqis have resisted the repatriation efforts, saying they do not want ISIS families among them. Despite the criticism, the Iraqi government regularly repatriates its citizens from al-Hol, a policy commended by the UN and US.