Iraq repatriates more than 500 people from Syrian al-Hol refugee camp
Mike Brest
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The Iraqi government repatriated more than 500 people who had been living in the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria this week, though it amounts to a small percentage of the Iraqis in the camp.
One hundred forty-two Iraqi families comprising 580 people were escorted by Iraqi officials from the camp to the Jeddah-1 rehabilitation center last Saturday. There are more than 25,000 Iraqi al-Hol residents, while the total number of Iraqi citizens repatriated from Northern and Eastern Syria since 2017 is now nearly 11,500, according to ANF News.
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U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that repatriation of civilians in the al-Hol camp is essential to prevent the radicalization of the younger generation within the camp, as ISIS ideology is prevalent.
“The al-Hol camp has long served as a flashpoint of human suffering and a recruiting opportunity for ISIS. That is why repatriation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of these residents is so critical for Iraq, for the region, and for the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement.
“We commend the Iraqi government for its constructive and courageous role in this past week’s repatriation operation,” he added. “Along with our partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces, we will pursue similar opportunities to reduce the population at the al-Hol camp, thus averting ISIS efforts to exploit conditions at the camp.”
The al-Hol refugee camp has a population of roughly 55,000 consisting mainly of the wives and children of the Islamic State fighters that are in nearby prisons patrolled by the U.S.’s partner, the Syrian Defense Force (SDF), though there is rampant radicalization of children in the camp. There have also been several thwarted attacks on the camp.
The repatriation of Iraqi civilians remains a risk that bore out last week when Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Security Council announced the arrest of two ISIS members who were planning to launch attacks in front of the main gate of the General Directorate for Combating Terrorism that had resided in the al-Hol camp, according to a local news outlet.
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Last week, Dana Stroul, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Middle East, told reporters that ISIS views the prisoners as a “path to reconstituting.”
“We know that ISIS continues to have its eyes on these detainees and sees them as the path to reconstituting and resurging across the Middle East,” she explained. “Which is why we must stay the course; continue to work with the coalition and supporting the SDF to maintain custody of these detainees in a secure and human manner while we support the State Department in our ongoing mission to reduce this population by repatriating foreign fighters to their countries of origin and Iraqi fighters to Iraq as well as supporting Syrian fighters in reintegrating into their communities in Syria at the appropriate time and under the appropriate conditions.”