Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Justice has launched legal and diplomatic efforts to repatriate about 6,000 foreign inmates to their home countries.
The Iraqi National Security Council has authorized an official direction for this large-scale initiative.
The initiative involves over 6,000 detained and sentenced individuals from 61 foreign countries.
Syrian nationals make up the biggest group. Other notable nationalities are Moroccans, Americans, Canadians, Russians, Tunisians, and Turks.
The transfer process completely excludes convicts serving death sentences in Iraq.
Under the signed court accords, transferred individuals are expected to serve their remaining imprisonments in their home countries.
The great bulk of these foreign inmates are linked to the terrorist organization ISIS and were transferred to Iraqi custody earlier in 2026.
To prevent major jail breakouts, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) arranged the removal of thousands of terrorists from vulnerable northeastern Syrian detention sites.
Baghdad received the prisoners with the clear intention that they would not stay indefinitely and is now actively pressuring other countries to take responsibility for its residents.
