Since May 2021, Iraq has returned hundreds of families from Syria to the Al-Jadaa centre. Since then, part of it has left for its original areas of residence.
On Saturday, 50 Iraqi prisoners of the Islamic State organization and 168 families of the organization’s families were returned from Syria to Iraq, an Iraqi government source said on Saturday.
The source, who preferred not to be identified, stated that “the Iraqi authorities have received 50 members of the Islamic State organization from the Syrian Democratic Forces.”
He added that the jihadists “will be investigated and tried before the Iraqi judiciary.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, these jihadists were being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces in Al-Hasakah Governorate, in northeastern Syria.
Also, according to the Iraqi government source, “168 families will be placed in the Al-Jadaa center” located south of Mosul, provided that they undergo “a stage of psychological rehabilitation. After making sure that there are no cases of retaliation by tribal sheikhs in their areas, they will be returned to their areas of residence.”
The reality of Al-Hol camp
The dilapidated and overcrowded al-Hol camp, run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, whose mainstay is the Kurdish fighters who spearheaded the fight against the Islamic State, houses more than fifty thousand people, including jihadist family members, Iraqis and foreigners from about 60 countries.
Last March, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called for the deportation of nationals from Al-Hol, considering it “the worst camp in the world.”
Since May 2021, Iraq has repatriated hundreds of families from Syria to Al-Jadaa centre. Since then, part of it has left for its original areas of residence.
The return of families coming from al-Hol to their areas often raises controversy, due to the suspicion that some of them belong to the Islamic State, in a country that, five years after defeating the organization, is still suffering the scars of this war.
Officially, the Iraqi authorities confirm their intention to end the displacement file and to close all camps for the displaced and their intention to close Al-Jada’a camp permanently.
The file has made little progress since then. Returnees often face rejection from their local communities, making their reintegration a complex and lengthy task.
