On the sidelines of the Seventh Iraqi Ambassadors Conference held in Baghdad in November 2023, Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji reminded the international community of the threat the Syrian al-Hawl camp poses if detainees are not repatriated.
Highlighting the Iraqi government’s effort to repatriate Iraqi nationals, al-Araji said 1,567 Iraqi families were transferred from al-Hawl to al-Jadaa camp, one of 12 refugee camps the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ office built east of Mosul in 2017 to house internally displaced persons.
Nearly 3,000 people were charged with terrorism. Most were prosecuted, and the rest were still awaiting trial. About 900 families went through physical and mental rehabilitation and were reintegrated into their communities.
As of late 2023, al-Hawl, located in eastern al-Hasakah governorate in northeastern Syria, housed over 48,000 people, mostly wives and children of Daesh militants, along with some of the terrorist group’s supporters. Of the total, 23,353 were Iraqis, 17,456 Syrians and 7,438 other nationalities. Children under the age of 11 constituted half of the camp’s detainees; many lost their fathers or mothers and many are orphans. Their families’ connection with Daesh increases their isolation and makes them vulnerable to malign influences.
The facility is heavily guarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). A U.S.-backed group, the SDF is a coalition of ethnic militias.It serves as the official defense force of the Autonomous Administration of North and East in Syria and has repeatedly called on foreign countries to repatriate their detained nationals.
In August 2023 and February 2024, Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, visited al-Hawl and another camp in northeast Syria called al-Roj, and met with the camps’ administrative staff and residents, reiterating the U.S.’s commitment to enhancing security in the region and alleviating hardship among children living in the camps.
“Our continuing multinational effort to repatriate the residents of the camps to their countries of origin not only enhances security and stability in the region, but, more importantly, eases this humanitarian challenge … The United States, SDF, and the Global Coalition remain focused and committed on the enduring defeat of ISIS while addressing the humanitarian and security challenges at camps in northeast Syria,” Gen. Kurilla said in August 2023.
Sources: Asharq Al Awsat, CENTCOM, the U.N.