ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kyrgyz government on Friday repatriated 22 nationals, mostly children, from al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava). Kyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry announced in a statement on Friday that it had “safely” returned 22 people from the notorious al-Hol camp with the help of the United States and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The US State Department of State, applauded the Kyrgyz government for the repatriation. “The Kyrgyz Republic’s repatriation of 22 women and children from the al-Hol and Roj displaced persons camps in northeast Syria is the second such return of its nationals this year and the sixth repatriation overall since February 2023. We applaud the Kyrgyz Republic for its continued, exemplary action on repatriations, the only durable solution to the humanitarian and security challenges in northeast Syria,” said state department spokesperson Mathew Miller. “In total, the Kyrgyz Republic has repatriated 454 of its nationals since early 2023, all in U.S. assisted operations, including 121 nationals this year, a substantial portion of the nearly 228 non-Syrian or Iraqi third country nationals returned to their countries of origin so far in 2024,” he added. Miller also said that nearly 27,000 individuals from over 60 countries outside of Syria remain in Rojava’s al-Hol and Roj camps - “most of whom are children under the age of 12 who deserve a chance at life outside of the dire conditions of these camps.” The Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria have not commented on Bishkek’s new repatriation. Al-Hol camp is located in Hasaka province and has infamously been branded a breeding ground for the Islamic State (ISIS). Authorities have described the sprawling facility as a “ticking time bomb” and said the situation in the camp, which is difficult to control, is “very dangerous.” The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who control northeast Syria, fought the lion’s share of the battle against ISIS and arrested thousands of the terror group’s fighters along with their wives and children when they crushed ISIS territorially and took the group’s last stronghold in Syria in 2019. Including Syrians, over 40,000 ISIS-linked people are kept in al-Hol, while thousands of others are held in Roj camp.
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