“A further 13 individuals including 8 #Iraqis have been detained for their role in people smuggling out of #AlHol Camp. #SDF forces remain committed to improving the camp conditions for the residents,” the SDF tweeted.
Colonel Wayne Marotto, spokesperson for the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), said that the persons arrested are suspected ISIS members. “The Coalition stands by the SDF in its efforts to #DefeatDaesh & promote security & stability in NE Syria,” he tweeted.
More than 150 people have been arrested since late March after a spate of murders in the camp this year. The Asayish security forces on April 2 announced they’d made 125 arrests in a five-day operation and another 31 people have been detained in the past week, according to the SDF.
Al-Hol houses an estimated 61,000 people from dozens of countries, the majority of whom are family members of suspected ISIS fighters.
The insecurity in the camp and recent murders "reflect a persistent threat from ISIS and its criminal affiliates to innocent civilians in al-Hol, which places an increased burden on our local partners to maintain security within the camp," the acting US special envoy to the coalition John Godfrey said late last month.
"This is an international problem that requires an international solution," he added, urging countries to help humanitarian organizations and take responsibility for their citizens.
Nearly half the camp’s residents, more than 30,000, are Iraqis, according to data provided to Rudaw English by Sheikhmus Ahmed, who supervises the administration of Rojava’s IDP and refugee camps.
Iraq has resisted repatriating its nationals because of security concerns around bringing suspected ISIS members home, but a plan is now in the works to send 500 families back to Iraq in a phased operation. An Iraqi humanitarian organization has begun registering Iraqis at al-Hol camp to facilitate their repatriation, Ahmed said on Wednesday. The first group is expected to move in the coming days.
Nadine Maenza, a representative of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in a tweet on Friday from al-Hol camp, urged governments to coordinate with Rojava authorities to bring home their nationals and help with trials of ISIS suspects.
“The international community needs to repatriate families and work with [the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria] #AANES/#SDF for trial of ISIS prisoners at tribunals in #Raqqa,” she tweeted.
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