Many of Al-Hol’s residents are the wives and children of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters, placed in the camp when the jihadists’ last holdout of Baghouz, Deir ez-Zor province was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in March.
Among the camp’s 74,000 residents, an estimated 30,000 are Syrian. The rest are a mixture of Iraqis and other foreign nationals. Women and children make up around 90 percent of the camp population.
“It is the (Kurdish) administration’s duty to its people to play a role in the rehabilitation of these women and children, and their reintegration into society,” Abdul Hamid al-Mahbash, an official of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), told a press conference Sunday.
The move is part of an agreement between the Kurdish-led administration and local Arab tribes, reached on May 3 at a meeting called to bolster strained relations.
The Arab tribes requested that Syrian women and children be allowed to return home and rehabilitate back into society.
This first group of women and children consist of residents of Raqqa and Tabqa, both of which were once ISIS strongholds, now under the Autonomous Administration’s control.
Reducing the population of Al-Hol will help ease the heavy strain on humanitarian services, particularly health facilities.
On May 30, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Norwegian Red Cross announced a new field hospital will soon open in the camp.
“The camp expanded very rapidly, and this has made it challenging for humanitarians to keep up with the demand, particularly for medical services,” said Philip Spoerri, head of ICRC’s delegation in Syria.
“Many people were injured during the hostilities or on the road to the camp, and months later now they have still not been treated.”
Dire conditions and fears the camp could become a hotbed for jihadist activity have motivated authorities to speed up rehabilitation efforts.
Another group of women and children are expected to leave the camp after Eid, according to AFP.
