Spain repatriates 15 people with ISIS ties from Syrian camp
Mike Brest
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The Spanish government agreed to repatriate more than a dozen people with Islamic State ties who had been in a Syrian refugee camp.
Two women and 13 children made up the group of people who had been in the al-Hol camp in Syria. They were handed over to a Spanish delegation led by Guillermo Anguera, an adviser to the Spanish foreign ministry.
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“This will be such a relief and marks a very positive start to the year for these children,” said Matt Sugrue, director of program operations for Save the Children in Syria, an organization dedicated to helping children in these camps. “They now get to leave the camps behind and look forward to a better future. The remaining 7,000 children still lingering in the camps deserve the same. Efforts must be stepped up to urgently repatriate each and every one of them.”
The organization also called on the Spanish government to repatriate another four children and one woman, whom they say remain in the camp.
U.S. officials have repeatedly cautioned that this refugee camp and the Roj camp are breeding grounds for a new generation of ISIS fighters. They also frequently point to the repatriation of those in the camps as the best way to prevent the radicalization of the tens of thousands of people within the camps.
“We are grateful to Spain for working with us to resolve the ongoing humanitarian crisis resulting from the dismantlement of the so-called ISIS ‘caliphate’ by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS/Daesh. Approximately 10,000 residents of al-Hol and Roj displaced persons camps are from more than 60 countries outside Syria and Iraq. More than half of all al-Hol camp residents are children under the age of 12,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement on Wednesday.
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“Repatriation is the only durable solution to the humanitarian and security situation in al-Hol,” he added. “While its so-called ‘caliphate’ has been defeated, ISIS remains a persistent threat to the region and to the thousands of vulnerable residents in displaced persons camps. We urge all governments to follow Spain’s example and repatriate their nationals, especially women and children.”
Per Save the Children in Syria, a record 517 women and children were repatriated from the camps by 12 countries in 2022. It represents a 60% increase compared to 2021 and 84% from the year before that.