Iraq National Security Adviser: We Repatriated 450 Families From Syria’s Al-Hol Camp

 Residents of al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Residents of al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Iraq National Security Adviser: We Repatriated 450 Families From Syria’s Al-Hol Camp

 Residents of al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Residents of al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji said Saturday that his country has repatriated dozens of families who were affiliated or are suspected of collaborating with ISIS in mid-2014, when it controlled over about one third of Iraq’s territory.

He said members of these families settled in al-Hol camp for displaced people in Syria after the organization’s defeat in 2017.

Iraq transferred 450 families from al-Hol camp to the UN-sponsored al-Jada camp for psychological rehabilitation, Araji told an international conference about the camp.

The official also revealed that the government has decided to transfer more Iraqi families from al-Hol camp in the coming months.

He pointed out that there are 30,000 Iraqis in the camp, 20,000 of which are under-age.

The camp, along with other areas east of Syria, pose an extremist threat for Iraq’s national security, Araji stressed, urging its rapid dismantlement.

Prisons run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces hold an estimated 12,000 ISIS members, and the group aims to mount further operations similar to the January attack in a bid to free them, Araji said.

In January, ISIS militants carried out their biggest assault in Syria in years, attacking a prison in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Hasakah to free the ISIS prisoners.

Almost a week of intense fighting left more than 370 people dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Araji affirmed that most ISIS leaders are in prison, adding that the Joint Operations Command, the National Security Apparatus and the Intelligence Service have formed a security team to inspect all the displaced from al-Hol camp.

He called on the international community to support Iraq’s efforts to dismantle the camp and return all the terrorists to their countries for prosecution.

The camp houses almost 56,000 including displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, some of whom maintain links with the ISIS group.



Two Million Syrians Returned Home Since Assad's Fall, Says UN

Syrian migrants wait at the Cilvegozu border gate to cross into Syria, after Syrian rebels announced that they ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in the Turkish town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, Türkiye, - Reuters
Syrian migrants wait at the Cilvegozu border gate to cross into Syria, after Syrian rebels announced that they ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in the Turkish town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, Türkiye, - Reuters
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Two Million Syrians Returned Home Since Assad's Fall, Says UN

Syrian migrants wait at the Cilvegozu border gate to cross into Syria, after Syrian rebels announced that they ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in the Turkish town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, Türkiye, - Reuters
Syrian migrants wait at the Cilvegozu border gate to cross into Syria, after Syrian rebels announced that they ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in the Turkish town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, Türkiye, - Reuters

Over two million Syrians who had fled their homes during their country's war have returned since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said Thursday, ahead of a visit to Syria.

The Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011 with Assad's brutal repression of anti-government protests, displaced half of the population internally or abroad.

But Assad's December 8 ouster at the hands of Islamist forces sparked hopes of return.

"Over two million Syrian refugees and displaced have returned home since December," Grandi wrote on X during a visit to neighboring Lebanon, which hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, according to official estimates, AFP reported.

It is "a sign of hope amid rising regional tensions," he said.

"This proves that we need political solutions -- not another wave of instability and displacement."

After 14 years of war, many returnees face the reality of finding their homes and property badly damaged or destroyed.

But with the recent lifting of Western sanctions on Syria, new authorities hope for international support to launch reconstruction, which the UN estimates could cost more than $400 billion.

Earlier this month, UNHCR estimated that up to 1.5 million Syrians from abroad and two million internally displaced persons may return by the end of 2025.