ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A high-level United Nations delegation accompanied by the Chief of Iraq’s National Security Service Qassim al-Aaraji visited the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Sunday in an effort to assess the conditions on the ground and push for greater repatriation of Iraqi citizens from the camp.
The delegation witnessed the “desolate, sprawling complex of tents in the scorching sun” and the immense challenges that residents of the camp endure on a daily basis, a statement published by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Monday read, describing the "forced home of tens of thousands of people for many years now."
According to the UN, 50 percent of al-Hol’s total population (around 56,000 individuals) are under the age of 12. “The already extremely precarious humanitarian and security conditions have deteriorated further in past months, making the risks associated with this slow-moving catastrophe ever clearer,” the statement continued. The camp “fuels resentment and inspires terrorists, from breakout operations to large-scale attacks,” it said, warning that if left unaddressed, “the situation will inevitably impact the region and far beyond.”
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested droves of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters and their families when they overran ISIS's last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Many of these people were taken to al-Hol - mostly women and children of different nationalities - and Iraqi nationals make up the bulk of the camp's population, followed in second place by Syrians.
The camp has infamously been branded a breeding ground for terrorism, with Kurdish and Iraqi authorities describing the sprawling camp as a "ticking time bomb," warning of the dangerous situation in the camp with ISIS sleeper cells roaming the area.
“Keeping people in restricted and poor conditions ultimately creates greater protection and security risks than taking them back in a controlled manner,” Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said.
The latest transfer of Iraqi nationals on June 1 by the country’s High Committee on Repatriations has taken the total figure of Iraqis repatriated from al-Hol to over 2,500 people. However around 28,000 Iraqi citizens remain in al-Hol, according to the UN.
“Iraq is demonstrating that responsible repatriations are possible, by finding dignified solutions anchored in the principles of both accountability and reintegration,” Hennis-Plasschaert continued. "The best and only durable solution is to control the situation, managing returns swiftly and decisively, in the spirit of partnership, to prevent the legacy of yesterday’s fight from fueling tomorrow’s conflict.”
Calling on other Member States with citizens in the camp to take urgent action, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Imran Riza described the steps taken by Iraq's government as "extremely important in the path to solutions,” and urged other governments to follow suit by repatriating their residents. Al-Hol currently hosts 51 nationalities.
The visit coincides with a spike in violent crime in the camp. Since the beginning of the year, the camp has bore witness to at least 18 murders.
Allegedly decapitated, the body of an Iraqi woman was found by Rojava’s internal security forces (Asayish) in a valley located between section one and section two of al-Hol camp towards the end of last month; the sixth recorded killing in May.
Adding to the already unstable conditions of the region, in recent weeks Turkey has intensified its threats to invade northern Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in late May announced a new military offensive aimed at creating a 30 kilometer “safe zone” along its southern border, designed to push back Kurdish fighters from the area.
Hennis-Plasschaert met with Syria's Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal Mekdad in Damascus on Saturday, where the issue of humanitarian aid and the conditions of the camps, especially al-Hol, were discussed according to a statement published by the Syrian foreign ministry after the meeting.
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