Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani (center) and Mohamed al-Hassan, chief of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (left), meetiing in Baghdad on May 14, 2025. Photo: Sudani's office
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani received a message of gratitude from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for repatriating people with links to the Islamic State (ISIS) from camps in northeast Syria (Rojava), during a meeting with the mission’s head in Iraq on Wednesday.
The message, delivered by UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) chief Mohamed al-Hassan, “commended Iraq’s recent accelerated efforts in repatriating Iraqi nationals from al-Hol and Roj camps and detention facilities in Syria,” said a statement from Sudani’s office.
Guterres assured Sudani that the UN will continue cooperation with authorities in Baghdad on the matter “to ensure the safe return and reintegration of Iraqi citizens,” according to the statement.
Roj and al-Hol camps, both located in Rojava’s Hasaka province, house tens of thousands of individuals, mainly Iraqis and Syrians, with ties to ISIS. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which control the area, have warned of the continued threat of radicalization within the camps.
“The message stressed the importance of allocating sufficient resources to support rehabilitation, reintegration, and accountability in line with international laws and standards,” the statement added.
Iraq has repatriated around half of its citizens in batches, placing them in rehabilitation programs prior to reintegration.
The repatriation of ISIS affiliates has long been a contentious issue in Iraq, given the heinous human rights violations and war crimes the group committed following its 2014 seizure of large swaths of territory in Iraq’s north and west.
While some tribes and communities have expressed willingness to integrate individuals linked to the group, others argue that reintegration should be limited to families of ISIS members, particularly those who were not directly involved in severe crimes.
ISIS captured vast swathes of northern and central Iraq in 2014, but the group’s so-called caliphate was dismantled in 2017 after Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with support from a US-led international coalition, retook the territory.
The message, delivered by UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) chief Mohamed al-Hassan, “commended Iraq’s recent accelerated efforts in repatriating Iraqi nationals from al-Hol and Roj camps and detention facilities in Syria,” said a statement from Sudani’s office.
Guterres assured Sudani that the UN will continue cooperation with authorities in Baghdad on the matter “to ensure the safe return and reintegration of Iraqi citizens,” according to the statement.
Roj and al-Hol camps, both located in Rojava’s Hasaka province, house tens of thousands of individuals, mainly Iraqis and Syrians, with ties to ISIS. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which control the area, have warned of the continued threat of radicalization within the camps.
“The message stressed the importance of allocating sufficient resources to support rehabilitation, reintegration, and accountability in line with international laws and standards,” the statement added.
Iraq has repatriated around half of its citizens in batches, placing them in rehabilitation programs prior to reintegration.
The repatriation of ISIS affiliates has long been a contentious issue in Iraq, given the heinous human rights violations and war crimes the group committed following its 2014 seizure of large swaths of territory in Iraq’s north and west.
While some tribes and communities have expressed willingness to integrate individuals linked to the group, others argue that reintegration should be limited to families of ISIS members, particularly those who were not directly involved in severe crimes.
ISIS captured vast swathes of northern and central Iraq in 2014, but the group’s so-called caliphate was dismantled in 2017 after Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with support from a US-led international coalition, retook the territory.
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