ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — An international aid organization estimated that tens of thousands of Iraqis being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will be sent back to their home country within "weeks or months."
“Among the people who reached al-Hol camp you have a significant number of people who are of Iraqi origin. Figures are not official but probably we are talking about 20,000 people, including women and children,” Fabrizio Carboni, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional director for the Middle East, told Reuters in Geneva on Monday.
The SDF has repeatedly warned that the camp is over capacity. Last month, the SDF handed over 150 alleged ISIS members to the Iraqi Army.
“The Iraqi government has expressed its will to bring those people back, but it’s obviously a challenging situation. Those people are considered as a security threat, so it means that they will have to go through a screening process,” Carboni added.
The US-led international coalition partnered ground forces also announced this week that Iraqi Kurdish ISIS captives would be extradited to the Kurdistan Region.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, neither his ministers of defense or interior confirmed the agreement.
Carboni told Reuters that no official date has been set for the transfer from the camp that holds at least 55,000 people.
“But according to our understanding, it’s a matter of weeks or months,” he said.
Most of the captives to be repatriated to Iraq are civilians, according to ICRC.
The distinction between ISIS fighters and non-fighters, and those fleeing al-Baghouz and other places has concerned analysts as release deals are negotiated. They argue that ISIS leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi, himself, was not a fighter.
The SDF has called on all its foreign captives to be repatriated, citing a lack of resources to wade through a proper judicial process in Syria.
Countries vary on their policy towards repatriating alleged ISIS members and their families.
“We are aware it is a difficult issue especially in Europe but we believe that on humanitarian grounds, even if you look at this through a security angle, the solution goes through a return of those children and mothers,” Carboni added.
The SDF renewed its ground operation with the support of the coalition to clear ISIS remnants from their "final," shrinking 500 square-meter bastion east of the Euphrates near the border with Iraq.