UNHCR: 191 Iraqi nationals returned from Al-Hol camp to Iraq

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, announced that as part of ongoing efforts to facilitate the return of refugees to their home countries, UNHCR supported the repatriation of 191 Iraqi nationals from al-Hol Camp to Iraq yesterday.

Llosa stated that UNHCR teams were on the ground to facilitate the process, from community sensitization and registration to accompanying the convoy to the border, where the returnees were received by the Iraqi authorities.

Gonzalo Vargas Llosa further indicated that, with this repatriation, and with today’s return of several vulnerable Syrian families supported by UNHCR and partners, al‑Hol camp will now be practically empty.

In recent days, following the takeover of control of the camp by groups affiliated with the Syrian transitional government, security concerns in al-Hol Camp and the issue of removing the families of ISIS members from the camp have come to the forefront. The transitional government subsequently transferred hundreds of families from the camp to the rural areas of Aleppo and Idlib.

Al-Hol Camp also hosts the families of ISIS members, a matter that has drawn international attention due to its complex humanitarian and security dimensions.

With repatriation efforts accelerating in recent times, attention has now shifted to the future of the camp—whether it will be completely closed or transformed into a new institutional structure adapted to the current changes.