Jan. 18, 2023
Release Number 20230118-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TAMPA, Fla. – On Jan. 14, 142 Iraqi families comprising 580 people formerly residing at the al-Hol camp for displaced persons in northeast Syria were escorted by Iraqi officials to the Jeddah-1rehabilitation center. This is part of an ongoing Iraqi government and international effort to repatriate, rehabilitate and reintegrate more than 25,000 Iraqi al-Hol residents.
“We commend the Iraqi government for its constructive and courageous role in this past week’s repatriation operation,” said Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, CENTCOM commander. “Along with our partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces, we will pursue similar opportunities to reduce the population at the al-Hol camp, thus averting ISIS efforts to exploit conditions at the camp.
“The al-Hol camp has long served as a flashpoint of human suffering and a recruiting opportunity for ISIS. That is why repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration of these residents is so critical for Iraq, for the region and for the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
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