Iraq urged countries on Monday to repatriate their citizens from a sprawling camp in Syria housing tens of thousands linked to the extremist Islamic State group, saying it has become a 'source for terrorism.'
Kurdish forces patrol al-Hol camp, which houses families of members of the Islamic State group in Hasakeh province, Syria, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Iraq urged countries on Monday to repatriate their citizens from a sprawling camp in Syria housing tens of thousands linked to the extremist Islamic State group, saying it has become a "source for terrorism."
The camp holds about 51,000 people, the vast majority women and children, including the wives, widows and other family members of IS militants, mostly Syrians and Iraqis. "Ending the issue of al-Hol camp has become a top national interest for Iraq," said Ahmad Sahhaf, Iraq's Foreign Ministry spokesman, according to the country's state news agency.
The camp's population is down from 73,000 people, mostly because thousands of its Syrian and Iraqi inhabitants were allowed to return home. But other countries have largely balked at taking back their nationals, who travelled to join IS after the radical group seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
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