After the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attacked Mosul in 2014, tens of thousands of Iraqis fled and many settled in the areas under the governance of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES, also known as Rojava). According to Hawar News (ANHA), migrants and refugees in al-Hol (al-Hawl) Camp in northern Syria have been living in the hope that they will be able to return to their homes one day.
30,706 Iraqis currently live in al-Hol camp. Iraqi refugees in the camp have appealed to the Iraqi government to take action to enable them to return to their homes as soon as possible. “Iraqi refugees suffered a lot from ISIS terrorism”, said Fener El Giêt, head of the AANES Foreign Relations team.
“We did our best to assist the Iraqi delegation when it visited the Autonomous Administration. Since there was a war in Iraq, Iraqi refugees did not want to return at first. Today, most of them want to go back. We hope that the Iraqi government will take more serious steps in this regard”, he said. Noting that approximately 30,000 Iraqi citizens are staying in al-Hol Camp, El Giêt added: “Not all of them are from ISIS. Most of them came here from the war in Iraq. Some families are the families of ISIS members”.
