Deal with Baghdad will send 20,000 refugees back to Iraq

by Alena Masterson
edited by Hugo Arlabosse

Twenty thousand Iraqi refugees in Syria are expected to be sent back to their home country within the following weeks, according to the NY Times.

A deal made with Baghdad is set to make thousands of refugees go back to Iraq, said a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). While this will reportedly happen within weeks or months, there is no exact date set.

(Photo: The Times)

The Syrian camps are overflowing with refugees who originate from Iraq, the majority being wives and children of Islamic State fighters. As the Islamic State bases have been falling, camps like al-Hol are overflowing with people fleeing in fear of their lives, like the Iraqis who fear retribution from the Shi’ite militants.

“The Iraqi government has expressed its will to bring those people back, but it’s obviously a challenging situation. Those people are considered as a security threat, so it means that they will have to go through a screening process,” said Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC regional director for the Middle East. This also includes countries in Europe who are concerned with bringing back militants and their families in to their countries.

However, the primary concern for these officials is helping the almost 900 children who are displaced and traumatized by the conflict.