A group of Iraqi families leave notorious camp in Syria, starting journey back to Iraq

(2 Dec 2025)
SYRIA IRAQ RETURNEES

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

LENGTH: 2:38

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Al-Hol camp, Syria - 1 December 2025
1. Pan of Iraqi families gathered by the exit gate of al-Hol Camp in Syria
2. Women and children standing by gate
3. Girl blowing whistle
4. Iraqi woman with her cat waiting for departure
5. Man helping his son put on jacket, UPSOUND (Arabic) Abdulhamid Ayish, 37-year-old Iraqi from al-Anbar:
"Hold this and keep the jacket on and do not take it off, it is cold over there”
6. Red Crescent staff helping people in camp
7. SOUNDBVITE (Arabic) Abdulhamid Ayish, 37-year-old Iraqi from al-Anbar:
“Our names came out and thankfully, we are travelling today to our homeland, to our beloved and precious country, and to my family. My wife is there, she is at al-Amal camp in Jadaa, in Mosul. We will stay there for sometime until we complete our identification documents, then we will go back to Anbar. I will work there. I am a farmer. I know everything about agriculture. I love this job, I‘ve been in this job since childhood when I was working with my brothers and family. We wish well for everyone. I am optimistic about the future for my family, kids. And I wish well for everyone God willing.”

8. Various of people gathered by exit gate
9. Various of people crossing gate to exit camp
10. Women preparing to leave
11. SOUNDBVITE (Arabic) Helwa Omar, 65-year-old Iraqi woman from Salahuddin:
"Well, hopefully they (government) will provide for us, I am tired and can’t work at all. We want them to give us pensions and build houses for us. Our houses were destroyed. Now, we are going back but there is no place to go. There is nothing left, no pension, nothing. We would have suffered even more if it weren't for God and these food baskets. Thank God, they provided us with food and water here (at the camp)."

12. Wide of bus
13. Child inside bus waving
14. Bus leaving the camp, heading toward Iraq
15. American patrol guarding the process
16. Driving shot of buses parked outside the camp in Hasaka
STORYLINE:
Over 200 Iraqi families packed their belongings and left a sprawling camp in the Syrian desert that houses tens of thousands of people with alleged ties to the militant Islamic State group.

The group of over 850 people left in the 13th journey organized for Iraqis returning from al-Hol camp in 2025, according to camp authorities.

The U.S. Department of State estimates that some 30,000 people from 70 countries remain in al-Hol Camp, most of them wives and children of IS fighters as well as supporters of the extremist group.

They include Iraqis as well as nationals of Western countries who traveled to join IS.

The Iraqi returnees will be taken to al-Amal camp in the Mosul area for security clearance and a rehabilitation period.

Abdulhamid Ayish, 37, was optimistic about the prospect of returning to his home in Anbar, where he will resume working in agriculture.

On the other hand, Helwa Omar, a 65-year-old Iraqi woman from Salahuddin area, was worried about the future.

She is hoping for support from the Iraqi government. "Our houses were destroyed. Now, we are going back but there is no place to go. There is nothing left."

Human rights groups for years have cited poor living conditions and pervasive violence in the camp, which the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have administered for years.

The SDF were Washington’s key ally in combating IS in Syria and its sleeper cells, and for years have run large swaths of northeastern Syria.

AP video shot by Hogir el Abdo



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