Iraq called on the international community to repatriate its citizens from Hol Camp, which houses tens of thousands of people linked to ISIS gangs, and said the camp has become a "source of terrorism".
A conference held in Baghdad addressed the issue of Al Hol Camp in Northern and Eastern Syria. Iraqi officials, the UN Iraq representative, some members of the international coalition fighting against ISIS and ambassadors of various countries were present at the conference.
After the ISIS gangs were defeated by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in March 2019, tens of thousands of people were taken to the Hol Camp. About 51,000 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, stay in the camp. The majority of them are women and children, often the spouses and children of ISIS gangs. There are also about 8,000 women and children from 60 different nationalities living in the section of the camp known as the Annex Building. The children are raised in the camp with ISIS teachings and this poses dangers for the world. Despite the defeat of ISIS, its sleeper cells continue to carry out attacks in Iraq, Syria and Northern and Eastern Syria. In the past years, horrendous crimes were reported in Al Hol.
"Ending the Al Hol Camp problem has become an issue of the most important national interest for Iraq," Ahmad Sahhaf, spokesperson for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.
Sahhaf urged the international community to encourage all countries with citizens in the camp to "repatriate them as soon as possible with the aim of eventual closure of the camp" as it has become a "dangerous epicenter".
Speaking at the conference, Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji said that Iraq received 1,396 families, 5,569 of its citizens, from Hol Camp in the past few weeks. Despite the returns, approximately 25,000 Iraqis remain in the camp, making up almost half of the camp's population.
The camp's population of 73,000 has been reduced, in large part because thousands of Syrians and Iraqis have been allowed to return to their homes. Other countries, however, refused to take back their citizens.
Earlier this month, the SDF announced that it had handed over 50 Iraqi ISIS mercenaries to Baghdad. They also announced that he had sent 170 Iraqis living in the camp back to their countries.
The Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria has been calling on countries for years to send their citizens back from the camp.
