Iraqi refugees leaves Hawl Camp towards country
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Hundreds of Iraqi refugees left the Hawl camp, eastern Hasakah, on Sunday, heading towards their homeland after years of staying in the camp.
This journey was scheduled for May 16, but it was postponed two days prior to the scheduled date by the Iraqi government without disclosing the reasons, according to a previous statement by the camp administration to North Press.
The Iraqi delegation, responsible for organizing the trip and selecting the families from the camp, returned to Iraq on Saturday after completing all the necessary procedures. The departure process took place this afternoon.
A source from one of the organizations operating in the camp, who was involved in the departure process, said, “A batch of Iraqi families left the Hawl camp after waiting in the reception area for about 24 hours until all the required procedures were completed.”
He added that the new batch consisted of 168 families, with a total of approximately 658 individuals.
According to media sources, the repatriated Iraqis from the are received at the Jadaa camp, located south of Mosul in Nineveh Governorate, northwestern Iraq.
In this regard, in mid-April, the Minister of Migration and Displacement, Evan Jabro, determined that 150 Iraqi families are returning from Hawl Camp, in northeast Syria, on monthly basis.
Iraqis comprise half of the 50,000 people who reside in Hawl camp.
The repatriated Iraqi nationals return to their areas after completing the rehabilitation process, according to the Minister.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, bringing an end to the ISIS so-called caliphate.
After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS fighters were transferred to prisons, while their families were transferred to Hawl and Roj camps in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-held areas.