Iraq has requested the repatriation of 36 families living in a high-profile refugee camp in the Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES).
The families living in the Al Roj camp have reportedly refused to get repatriated, fearing retaliation.
A total of 46 families have already left ISIS camps in both Al Hol and Al Roj in the past few months after the regime change in Syria. Iraq had already repatriated these families back to Baghdad, Mosul and other parts of Iraq.
However there are 38 more families (mostly ISIS widows and their children) living in these camps.
Out of these 38, the Iraqi authorities have requested the repatriation of 36 families. The security screening and documentation concerning their return has already been processed and cleared by the Iraqi authorities.
Most of the women and children from these families are from Mosul: the then de facto capital of ISIS in Iraq. So they are likely to be repatriated to Mosul.
However the women have refused to go back from the camps to Iraq, citing retaliation from the Iraqi populace.
“The Iraqi families in Roj camp do not want to go back. They have their own fears of retaliation from armed groups or prosecution by Baghdad,” explained Sheikhmous Ahmed, one of the officials linked to the administration handling the camps for displaced persons and refugees in the DAANES. Ahmed added that some of the families had already left for other countries and did not return to Iraq.
Though there have been a large number of returnees from camps in North East Syria in the past few months, some of them are unable to reunite with their families in their own countries as they are not accepted.
“They are accepted by their own family members only if they understand that their relatives were not directly involved in crimes. They oppose the return of the individuals who were associated with ISIS,” one of the camp authorities told THE WEEK over the phone, on conditions of anonymity.
The Al Hol and Al Roj camps house more than 70,000 women and children refugees. In the Al Hol camp alone, there are more than 35,000 Iraqis and Syrians in the general section, while the foreign annexure is home to people of other nationalities.
In January this year, the Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to hand over at least 200 ISIS fighters to Iraqi authorities and ensure their return. Apart from the fighters, they also agreed to return three convoys of Iraqi families to their home country from the camps.
Iraq plans to repatriate all its citizens from camps in DAANES by 2027.