The Hawl Migrant Camp opened in 2016 along the Syrian-Iraqi border has provided shelter for civilians who were forced to migrate due to the war between regime forces and gang groups in various regions in Syria. The camp has also housed thousands of Iraqi migrants who were forced to migrate due to ISIS attacks in Iraq.

The Democratic Autonomous Administration has offered support for the migrants in the Hol Camp and provided services. The commune and assemblies formed in the camp have organized the camp residents and completed various service efforts. Another Iraqi Refugees Assembly was formed for Iraqi migrants in the camp.

When the Iraqi government launched the operation to liberate Mosul from ISIS in 2016, thousands of civilians from Mosul and the rest of Iraq migrated to Rojava-Northern Syria. After Mosul was liberated, migrants in the Hawl Camp called on the Iraqi government so they could return home. Migrants said they didn’t see the trust and peace they had in Rojava anywhere else, despite the many hardships they had to endure.

On the migrants’ call, the Democratic Autonomous Administration, the Hawl Migrant Camp Administration and the Iraqi Refugees Assembly issued documents for thousands of Iraqi migrants and let them officially return home.

In the last two months, a total of 2.450 migrants have been handed over to the Iraqi government through the Til Kocher border gate. The Hawl Camp Iraqi Refugees Assembly Administrator Xidêr Salih El-Qeten said, “In order to facilitate the return of migrants to their lands, we complete documents for 350 migrants every week in coordination with the Autonomous Administration and the Iraqi government and hand them over to the Iraqi government.”