More than 500 Syrians, some related to alleged ISIS group members, quit the overcrowded Kurdish-run camp of al-Hol in the northeast of the war-torn country Monday, Kurdish officials said.
An AFP reporter saw dozens of women lugging their belongings onto trucks, and others feeding their children before their departure.
Some were accompanied by chickens and sheep, while Kurdish security forces inspected their bags as they filed out of the camp in Hassakeh province.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Among them, 31-year-old Fatima was delighted to be finally going home to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, after living in a tent with her seven children.
“We’re so happy to be going back to our houses,” she said.
“I’m going back to Sousa (village) to live in my house with my husband who was living abroad,” she said, without providing more details.
“Our home areas now are stable and safe, and most families in the camp want to return,” she said.
Sheikhmous Ahmad, a Kurdish official in charge of the region’s camps, said 515 people from 120 families were returning to areas in the east of Deir Ezzor province.
Read more:
US policies in the Middle East: An in-depth analysis of Biden’s plans
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem dies: State media
Syria marks 50 years of Assad family rule
US sanctions, pressure preventing return of refugees to Syria, says Assad
Syrians get ready to leave the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp holding relatives of alleged ISIS group fighters, in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria, on November 16, 2020. (Delil Souleiman/AFP)
The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the region’s main military force, also said they had left in a statement.
They were the first to do so after the Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria last month vowed to allow thousands of Syrians, including the families of ISIS fighters, out of the over-populated camp.
Al-Hol hosts more than 60,000 people, including 24,300 Syrians either captured or displaced by fighting to expel ISIS from their last scrap of Syrian territory almost two years ago, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Iraqis make up the bulk of tens of thousands of foreigners in al-Hol, which also holds alleged ISIS relatives from around 50 countries, including Western nations.
Before the latest announcement, around 6,000 Syrians had left the camp in several waves, after the Arab tribes in their home regions had vouched for them.
Also Read
-
Lebanon’s Abbas Ibrahim visited Syria in effort to free US detainee
Lebanese Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim visited Damascus after a trip to Washington as part of efforts to free US citizen Austin Tice, who is thought to ... Middle East -
Armenia captures two Syrian mercenaries, amid Turkish and Azerbaijani denials
Two Syrian mercenaries captured by ethnic Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh are now in custody, the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told ... World News -
Russia’s military has benefited from the conflict in Syria: IISS Expert
Russia’s military has gained valuable experience from its intervention in Syria and has largely succeeded in its modernization goals, according to a ... Features
