Eurasia Press & News
A source inside the municipality of Akhtarin district, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, confirmed to Enab Baladi the transfer of residents of the “Al-Hol” camp in the countryside of Al-Hasakah, which includes the families of the “Islamic State” organization.
The source said that the transfer is likely to be carried out through buses and freight cars on Tuesday, February 17, pointing out that the reason for the transfer is often to secure the families.
He pointed out that the camp’s equipment is ready to receive the residents of “Al-Hol”, stressing that the camp will be secured by the Ministry of Interior.
Enab Baladi has not been confirmed from the camp site, but sources have suggested that it is located in the village of Aq Burhan/Braan, south-east of Akhtarin.
Camp “Aq Burhan” is located on an area of 31 hectares, and includes more than 3000 housing units, and accommodates about 1500 families, and participated in the construction of 50 mechanisms.
According to Enab Baladi, the camp has been empty for the past period, but a limited number of families who were living in camps around the city of Azaz were recently transferred to it.
Families from the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud areas of Aleppo were temporarily displaced before returning after the cessation of military operations on January 10.
According to information previously obtained by Enab Baladi, the camp is equipped with integrated infrastructure and service, including schools, mosques, markets, ovens, facilities and health centers.
The Turkish Disaster Management Corporation (AFAD) began its construction about six months before the fall of the former regime, and continued its construction after the fall.
The aim of its establishment was to remove the random camps spread in the northern countryside of Aleppo, and to transfer them to a more organized camp, and the residents of the camps on Turkish territory were to be received in the future.
Statement from the United Nations
The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Yosa, said through his account on the “X” platform, Sunday, February 15, that the Syrian authorities informed the UNHCR of a plan to transfer the remaining families in the “Al-Hol” camp to another camp in the city of Akhtrin in the countryside of Aleppo.
UNHCR is ready to provide support to families to be evacuated from the camp, Yusa said, noting that cooperation with the Syrian government continues to support the return and reintegration of Syrians who have left the camp, as well as those who still reside there.
He pointed out that the Commission has observed a significant decrease in the population of the camp in recent weeks, in a sign of the acceleration of exits, whether through internal transport or through return and reintegration programs.
These developments come after the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the camp in late January, and its handover to the Syrian security forces, in the context of wider field changes in the areas of northeastern Syria during the past period.
Al-Hol camp included civilians who fled the battles against the Islamic State, along with the families of the organization’s members who were arrested or surrendered to the controlling parties at the time, making the camp one of the most complex files on the security and humanitarian levels.
The camp has already witnessed partial unloading of Syrian families, in parallel with programs to return foreign families to their countries, amid international demands to find sustainable solutions to the file of families associated with the organization, whether through return to the countries of origin or through judicial and administrative arrangements inside Syria.
