The Al-Amal Camp south of Mosul houses thousands of Iraqi’s repatriated from al-Hol by the government [ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images]
Iraq has repatriated 25,000 people from the al-Hol and al-Roj camps in northeast Syria, according to a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM).
In its statement, issued on X on Friday, CENTCOM said that the repatriation of Iraqi citizens from the camps “demonstrates their commitment to the sustained defeat of ISIS”.
“Iraq increased the number of its citizens returned from the Syrian al-Hol and al-Roj camps by 165 percent, year-over year,” the statement continued, adding that “this commitment to more rapid repatriations enabled the returning home 80 percent of the Iraqi population at al-Hol.”
The increased repatriation of Iraqi citizens from the refugee camps, which also house thousands of family members of Islamic State (IS) fighters, follows pledges made by the Iraqi government.
According to Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Migration and Displacement, some 15,000 Iraqi’s had returned from al-Hol by 6 August, with those returning having been found to have had no security concerns.
The two camps held around 70,000 people and were some of the largest camps under the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that control the area.
As well as non-IS persons, Iraq had agreed to repatriate all families linked to IS by 2027 from al-Hol, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Migration and Displacement.
The existence of thousands of IS sympathisers prompted concerns from analysts and governments that the camp was a hotbed of IS activity, with attacks occurring against camp guards through its operation. A large number of IS fighters also remain in prisons run by the SDF.
Iraq’s war on IS, which began with the group’s takeover of large swathes of Iraq, including major Iraqi cities, saw 60,000 Iraqis displaced to Syria.
