Iraq repatriates +800 citizens from Syria’s al-Hol camp
Shafaq News – Damascus
A new group of 840 Iraqis left the al-Hol camp in Syria’s Hasakah province on Monday, heading toward Iraq under tight security provided by the US-led coalition against ISIS.
A source in the camp told Shafaq News that the latest transfer, which included 249 families, marked the 13th batch in 2025 and the 30th convoy since the start of the repatriation process for Iraqis from al-Hol, adding that efforts continue to return Iraqi families “willing to go home” in coordination between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Iraqi government.
According to Shafaq News correspondent, more than 20 Iraqi buses gathered outside the camp to transport the returnees through the al-Yarubiyah border crossing in eastern Hasakah.
Al-Hol once held nearly 70,000 people at the height of the fight against ISIS in 2019. As of January 2025, the camp hosts around 40,000 residents, including 16,000 Syrians, 17,600 Iraqis, and 6,400 third-country nationals.
Last month, Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement confirmed that roughly 18,000 Iraqis had been transferred from al-Hol—which houses families linked to ISIS in Syria’s Hasakah province—to al-Jadaa camp in Nineveh. Since 2021, Baghdad has repatriated 4,915 families in cooperation with international organizations. Returnees are first placed in al-Jadaa for social and psychological rehabilitation before reintegration into their communities.
The program has, however, faced objections from families of ISIS victims in Nineveh, who fear the reintegration of returnees into their towns and villages.
Read more : Security vs. Humanity: Iraq's struggle with ISIS repatriation
