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Islamic State Families to Be Cleared from al-Hol Camp

Jeff Seldin

   WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of Syrians, many connected to the
   Islamic State terror group, could soon be free under a plan to start
   clearing out the overcrowded al-Hol displaced persons camp in northeast
   Syria.

   Officials with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council, the political
   arm of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Autonomous
   Administration for North and East Syria (AANES) have for months been
   clamoring for help to care for the women and children who packed al-Hol
   and similar camps following the collapse IS' self-declared caliphate in
   Syria in March 2019.

   Now, they say the situation in al-Hol, in particular, is no longer
   sustainable.

   "We aim to release all Syrians held in Hol --first, all those from
   North and East Syria," Arin Sheikhmous, an official with the Kurdish
   administration responsible for refugees and camps, said Monday in a
   statement shared by the Rojava Information Center, a pro-Kurdish
   research organization.

   "For those from regime and Turkish-controlled regions, we are still
   discussing the mechanism, but we aim to find guarantors and release
   these people, too," Sheikhmous said. "For the Iraqis, our aim is to
   return them home, but the Iraqi government is dragging out the
   process."

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