Hawl Camp in Syria’ northeast is ‘ticking time bomb’: warns UN
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – United Nations has called for the resolution of the situation of Hawl Camp in northeast Syria, warning that it is a “ticking time bomb”.
“In Hawl Camp, mere hours from the Iraqi border, nearly 30,000 Iraqis with varying degrees of association to ISIS – including victims of ISIS, and others with no association at all – remain in limbo,” the UN Special Representative, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said in a conference in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Saturday.
Last Saturday, a conference was held under the title (Hawl Camp and the obligations of the international community), in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The conference was attended by the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, the ambassadors of the US and Britain, the ambassadors of the European Union to Baghdad, the head of the mission of the Organization for Migration and the representative of UNICEF in Iraq.
Hennis-Plasschaert concluded that “Hawl Camp is a ticking time bomb. If it goes off, it will impact not only the region but also far beyond.”
“In terms of proactively taking steps to fulfill its obligations to repatriate its nationals, Iraq has set an example on the global stage,” she said.
Since May last year, around 450 families – almost 1,800 individuals – have been repatriated by Baghdad, she said.
Hawl Camp, which is considered the most dangerous camp in the world, houses more than 56 thousand people, including about ten thousand foreign nationals, and no less than 30 thousand Iraqis.