ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Residents of al-Jadaa camp in Nineveh provnice, all Iraqi nationals, and linked to suspected Islamic State (ISIS) militants, are ineligible to vote in the November parliamentary due to insufficient personal documents.
"Jadaa camp residents in Nineveh cannot participate in the elections because they do not have enough documents to register for biometric voting cards," Ali Janahngir, spokesperson of Iraq's migration and displacement ministry confirmed to Rudaw on Friday.
Iraq is set to hold parliamentary elections on November 11. Citizens must have issued biometric voting cards to be able to cast a ballot.
"Around 6,000 people are currently at Jadaa camp," Jahangir said.
Iraq has repatriated its nationals in groups from northern Syria's notorious al-Hol camp, bringing them to al-Jadaa camp south of Mosul where they go through a rehabilitation program before reintegrating into the community.
The repatriation of people affiliated with ISIS is an ongoing issue in Iraq, given the heinous human rights violations and war crimes the group committed when it controlled territory in the north and west from 2014 through 2017. While some tribes and communities have expressed willingness to integrate individuals linked to the group, others argue that reintegration should be limited to family members, particularly those who were not directly involved in severe crimes.
Al-Hol has become notorious for its poor conditions and has been described as a breeding ground for terrorism. Since ISIS’s territorial defeat in 2019, tens of thousands of people linked to the group - mostly Iraqis and Syrians - have been held there, alongside others from across the world who traveled to join the jihadists’ so-called caliphate.
Iraq has been repatriating its citizens from the camps in groups and providing rehabilitation, and is planning to host a conference in Geneva in September to encourage more countries to follow suit.
About 10,000 Iraqis remain in the al-Hol camp, according to data Rudaw has obtained from relevant authorities in Rojava.
Many other countries, however, remain reluctant to take back their nationals over fears of extremist ideology spreading at home.
Baghdad has set a goal of repatriating all Iraqi citizens from camps in Rojava by 2027.
