Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement has launched 78 rehabilitation programs for returnees from al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, as part of an integrated plan to reintegrate them into Iraqi society after security screening and ideological and psychological programs at the “Al-Amal” Center in Nineveh province.
Ministry spokesperson Ali Abbas told the Iraqi News Agency on 26 October that these programs are being implemented in cooperation with government institutions, Iraqi universities, and international organizations. They focus on comprehensive intellectual and psychological preparation for people returning from the camp to facilitate their social reintegration. Specialized teams from the Universities of Baghdad and Nineveh are participating alongside security officers trained in psychosocial work.
Abbas explained that since 2021, the ministry has repatriated about 19,000 people from the camp, including men, women, the elderly, youth, and children, via 29 convoys organized in coordination with the National Security Advisory and the Joint Operations Command. After security screening, returnees are transferred to the Al-Amal Center, where their exposure to extremist ideology is assessed, and then they are assigned to age-specific programs that include educational, psychological, and social activities.
According to Abbas, the Al-Amal Center has a mental health team that includes specialists from the Universities of Baghdad and Nineveh, in addition to security officers trained in this field with recognized credentials who have completed specialized courses for handling this file.
On the overall number of Iraqis in the camp, Abbas said figures previously received from the International Coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SFD) indicated about 31,500 people.
He added that Iraq’s experience received international praise at the recent New York conference. Countries in North Africa, Europe, and East Asia expressed interest in drawing on the Iraqi model for addressing the returnee file from displacement camps.
Abbas noted that the ministry has succeeded in preventing tensions between returnees and host communities through community reconciliation programs, affirming that efforts will continue to bring back all Iraqis from the camp and close the file completely.
The Higher Committee for al-Hol camp confirmed in its meeting on Monday, 27 October, that Iraq will continue repatriating its nationals from the camp until the mission is fully completed.
Iraq’s most recent convoy from al-Hol was on 16 October, when the ministry repatriated 230 families as part of the 29th batch. Deputy Minister Karim al-Nouri said at the time that the community rehabilitation program had succeeded, and that families had returned to their areas of origin without any recorded security breaches.
Efforts to close al-Hol
On 6 August, Deputy Minister Karim al-Nouri told the Iraqi News Agency that more than 15,000 Iraqis had returned from al-Hol after their files were security vetted, with no security violations recorded.
Al-Nouri explained that Iraq faced two choices: either leave these people under the sway of the Islamic State and risk creating delayed threats, or bring them back through carefully designed programs that separate victims from perpetrators and reintegrate them into society. He said Iraq chose the second path with courage and responsibility.
According to the deputy minister, the process takes place in cooperation with international organizations, including the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Development Programme, and through the Community Rehabilitation Center in al-Jadaa camp in Iraq.
U.S. push to empty al-Hol
U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper issued a direct appeal to the international community, urging countries to accelerate the repatriation of their citizens from camps and detention sites in northeastern Syria by establishing a joint cell dedicated to this goal.
He spoke at a high-level United Nations conference at UN headquarters in New York on 27 September that was devoted to conditions at al-Hol camp and surrounding facilities.
Cooper said he personally visited al-Hol earlier in the month and affirmed that conditions on the ground require faster repatriations.
On 7 July, the London-based outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed cited Iraqi sources saying Baghdad and the SDF, through the U.S.-led International Coalition, had reached an agreement to speed up evacuations of Iraqi families from al-Hol.
Yasser Watout, a member of Iraq’s parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, told the outlet the agreement provides for two convoys per month transferring Iraqis from al-Hol to al-Jadaa camp in Nineveh province after security screening. He said the aim is to accelerate clearing the camp of Iraqi families, noting what he called major international efforts by Iraq to end the camp and repatriate all foreign nationals.
