Red Cross calls countries to repatriate citizens from Syria’s Hawl Camp
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – OnSaturday, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president Peter Maurer stressed the necessity for countries to repatriate their citizens of Islamic State (ISIS) families from camps in northeast Syria.
ICRC is urging all states to take responsibility for their nationals in Hawl and northeast Syria, and make all efforts to repatriate lawfully, respecting family unity and fully supporting reintegration.
After a visit to Hawl Camp, Maurer said, “tens of thousands of children in Hawl Camp and others, and those detained in prisons, are victims, regardless of what they or their parents may have done, or what they are accused of.”
“Of the estimated 62,000 people in the sprawling camp, two thirds are children, many of them orphaned or separated from family. They are growing up in harsh and often dangerous conditions,” he added.
He urged states to put an end to this “continuing disaster in full view.”
In late January, Director of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov demanded, during a hypothetical meeting of the UN Security Council, for the repatriation of ISIS children from Hawl Camp to their countries.
There are about 2,625 ISIS foreign families including 8,965 individuals in Hawl Camp, northeast Syria.
Hawl camp has been witnessing security tension since early 2021 recording a spike in murders against Syrian IDPs, Iraqi refugees, and Internal Security Forces (Asayish).