Under UNHCR supervision, 30,000 Iraqis from camps of North and East Syria will be relocated to Iraq

AL-HOL, Syria — Tens of thousands of Iraqis in camps in North and East Syria are set to be relocated back to Iraq. Iraqi Deputy Minister of Migration and Displacement Karim al-Nuri stated to the Al-Ikhbariya News Agency that, “Al-Hol Refugee Camp in North and East Syria has 30,000 Iraqis, 20,000 of whom are children.”

He also said that keeping them there is a mistake, and they should be rehabilitated and prevented from being exploited by extremist groups.

“Iraq succeeded in forming a government security committee to study the dossiers of Iraqis there and sort out those who do not have security and judicial dossiers,” said Al-Nuri. “We returned 453 families to Al-Jada’a camp in Nineveh Governorate and today 24 new families were returned to Iraq, specifically to Anbar Governorate after rehabilitation.”

Al-Nuri pointed out that there is an intensive program for community rehabilitation in cooperation with international organizations and a security committee.

For the fifth successive day, an Iraqi committee continues to register the names of Iraqi refugees residing in the Syrian camps, east of the Euphrates. The committee includes security officials from the Ministry of Interior and security apparatus, who held meetings with officials of the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) and the General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in the presence of officials from the U.S.-led International Coalition.

The evacuation process will take place gradually, starting next month, under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They will be relocated to a special camp in Iraqi territory, including families who reached the area before 2011.

They also discussed the dossier of Iraqi prisoners, numbering about 4,000 detainees.