More than 500 Syrians, displaced persons or members of families of fighters of the jihadist group Islamic State, left the Al-Hol camp on Monday (November 16th), after the green light given by the Kurdish autonomous administration, told AFP a local manager.
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An AFP correspondent on the spot saw dozens of women in this overcrowded camp, located in Syria's northeastern province of Hassaké, transport their belongings from tents to large trucks, and others feed their children before departure.
Some families took large numbers of poultry and sheep with them while Kurdish security forces searched their belongings before they were transported outside the camp.
With her seven children, Fatima, 31, had lived in Al-Hol for about two years.
"
We are happy to leave (...) I will return to Soussa to live in my house with my husband,
" she told AFP.
According to the UN, the camp is home to more than 64,000 people, including 24,300 Syrians.
Most of them are women and children.
This is the first wave of displaced people to leave the camp since the Kurdish autonomous administration announced last month that thousands of Syrians would be allowed to return to their areas.
10,000 Syrians are expected to leave the camp
On Monday, "
515 people from 120 families, all from the east of Deir Ezzor province
" left the camp, Cheikhmous Ahmed, a Kurdish official, told AFP.
According to him, around 10,000 Syrians are expected to leave the camp under the new mechanism put in place.
Some 6,000 Syrians had previously left Al-Hol in successive waves, often through mediation led by the chiefs of Arab tribes, the majority in eastern Syria.
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By mid-October, 600 Syrian prisoners detained for their links with IS had also been released under a general amnesty.
The Kurdish administration's decision does not include the Iraqis, who constitute the majority of the residents of the camp which also houses thousands of foreigners - wives and children of jihadists - from around 50 countries.
Since the fall of
the
self-proclaimed
ISIS
“
caliphate
” in March 2019, the Kurdish authorities have called on the countries concerned to repatriate the jihadists they detain and their families or to create an international tribunal to try them.
However, most countries, especially in Europe, are reluctant to repatriate their citizens.
Some, including France, have repatriated a limited number of children orphaned by jihadists.