ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Nearly 300 Syrian individuals affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) were allowed by Kurdish authorities to leave the notorious al-Hol camp on Thursday and return to their homes in Raqqa, reported local media. Hawar News Agency (ANHA) media, affiliated with Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava), reported that 299 people from over 80 families left the camp, marking the 16th batch of residents leaving the camp. Dilber Ahmed, who supervised the return, told ANHA that these people went under security and identity checks before leaving the camp. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters along with their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Most of these people are held at the al-Hol camp in Rojava. The camp is currently home to nearly 60,000 people - mostly women and children. More than half of them are Iraqis. North Press Agency (NPA), a local media outlet, said so far thousands of families, a total of approximately 4,000 people, have left the camp after registering to return to their homes. Munir Muhammad, an official from the camp, told NPA that the new batch are all from Raqqa city and its surrounding areas. SDC, the political arm of the SDF, decided in May 2020 to allow some residents of al-Hol camp to return to their homes. Elham Ahmad, President of the Executive Committee of the SDC, said at the time that the decision only applies to “Syrian families who wish to leave al-Hol camp.” “The families of foreign fighters and Syrians who face serious accusations will remain in the camp,” she added. However, some five hundred Iraqis were allowed to leave the camp in late May despite opposition from some Iraqis.
