Hundreds exit Syria’s al-Hol Camp in October
Shafaq News – Damascus
A total of 292 Iraqi and Syrian families left al-Hol Camp in northeastern Syria in October, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday.
According to SOHR, the departures, coordinated by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), are part of a voluntary return program to ease overcrowding and repatriate ISIS-linked families.
249 Iraqi families—about 840 people—were sent to al-Jadaa Camp in Iraq’s Nineveh Province, while 43 Syrian families (188 people) returned to Aleppo, Latakia, Palmyra, and Daraa. The AANES Foreign Relations Office also handed over five women and 12 children to a South African delegation, the Observatory added.
#المرصد_السوريخلال تشرين الأول الفائت.. 292 عائلة #سورية و #عراقية تغادر #مخيم_الهول ووفد #أفريقي يتسلّم 17 شخصاً من عوائل "الـ ـتـ ـنـ ـظـ ـيـ ـم"https://t.co/ae26xd9Kz7
— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) November 9, 2025
Earlier in the month, 28 families (133 people) left Mahmoudli Camp in Raqqa’s Tabqa area for home provinces, and 15 families (55 people) departed al-Hol for Aleppo under UNHCR supervision.
Founded in 1991 for Iraqi refugees and expanded after 2003, al-Hol Camp became one of the largest displacement sites after ISIS’s 2019 defeat in Syria, housing over 60,000 people, mostly women and children.
The camp’s overcrowding and security challenges have drawn global concern, prompting ongoing UNHCR–AANES–Iraq cooperation to facilitate safe returns and reduce its population.
Read more: Security concerns resurface following ISIS families' relocation from al-Hol Camp
