The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, announced today, Friday, February 20, the return of Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp in the countryside of al-Hasakah province in northeastern Syria. The camp has housed families of Islamic State fighters alongside displaced civilians for years.
UNHCR Representative in Syria Gonzalo Vargas Llosa said the agency supported, on Thursday, February 19, the voluntary return of 191 Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp to Iraq.
He added that UNHCR teams were present on the ground to facilitate the process, from community awareness and registration to escorting the convoy to the border, where Iraqi authorities received the returnees.
With this voluntary repatriation to Iraq, and the return of several vulnerable Syrian families today with support from UNHCR and its partners, al-Hol camp will now be “virtually empty,” Vargas Llosa said in a post on X.
Transfers to northern Aleppo countryside
The Syrian government is working to empty al-Hol camp by relocating its residents either to their original places of residence in Syrian cities or to Akhtarin camp in the village of Aq Burhan, affiliated with Akhtarin subdistrict in the northern countryside of Aleppo province.
According to a source working with one of the organizations operating inside al-Hol camp, the last group of Syrians left the camp for northern Aleppo countryside on February 18.
Enab Baladi monitored the convoy’s departure at noon on Wednesday, arriving at dawn on Thursday, February 19, according to a source inside the camp and another residing near Akhtarin camp.
The second convoy included 65 families, totaling around 270 individuals. It consisted of five buses and 21 trucks designated for transporting belongings, according to the Stability Support Unit.
200 Iraqi families remain
According to the same source working in al-Hol, approximately 200 Iraqi families, around 700 individuals, remain in the camp. They are set to be transferred in a separate and later process to al-Jadaa camp near Mosul in Iraq.
Those leaving were informed by government authorities that their stay in Akhtarin camp is not mandatory. However, they must remain there for two to three weeks for enumeration and data registration before those who wish to leave can return to their original homes.
Akhtarin camp is equipped with integrated infrastructure and services, including schools, mosques, markets, a bakery, and health facilities and centers.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, AFAD, began constructing the camp about six months before the fall of the former Syrian regime, and construction continued afterward.
The stated aim of establishing the camp was to remove informal camps spread across northern Aleppo countryside and relocate residents to a more organized site. It was also planned to receive residents of camps located on Turkish territory in the future.
Akhtarin camp is witnessing a heavy security presence, with security personnel deployed around its perimeter. Vehicles also patrol continuously inside the camp.
On February 17, Enab Baladi documented the arrival of six buses at Akhtarin camp in the village of Aq Burhan, accompanied by security vehicles, a military convoy, ambulances, and trucks transporting the belongings of al-Hol camp residents.
The first convoy included between 400 and 500 people, according to government statements.
Al-Hol camp has housed civilians who fled battles against the Islamic State, alongside families of the group’s fighters who were arrested or surrendered to the authorities controlling the area at the time. This has made the camp one of the most complex files on both security and humanitarian levels.
The camp previously witnessed partial evacuations of Syrian families, in parallel with programs to repatriate foreign families to their home countries, amid international calls for sustainable solutions to the issue of families linked to the group, whether through repatriation or judicial and administrative arrangements inside Syria.
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