Forty-seven French citizens suspected of Islamic State membership have been transferred from detention facilities in northeast Syria to Iraq for prosecution on terrorism charges, Iraqi security officials said Thursday.
The transfer occurred approximately six weeks ago but had not been previously disclosed, according to three Iraqi security officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The French nationals had been held in detention centers operated by the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria.
The SDF oversees a network of detention facilities housing approximately 9,000 suspected IS members in northeast Syria. The transferred French citizens will face trial on terrorism charges in Iraqi courts, the officials told the AP.
This marks the second known transfer of French citizens accused of IS affiliation from Syria to Iraq for prosecution. In 2019, Iraq received 13 suspected French militants from SDF custody for trial.
According to Iraqi officials, the SDF has transferred a total of 3,192 detainees to Iraq since the detention system was established. Iraqi courts have sentenced 724 of those transferred to death and 1,381 to life imprisonment, demonstrating the severe penalties faced by those convicted of terrorism charges.
The al-Hol and al-Roj camps house tens of thousands of people with alleged ties to IS, most of them wives and children of militants. Many of the French citizens transferred to Iraq had previously been held in detention facilities near Al-Hol camp.
The al-Hol camp, primarily housing women and children linked to IS fighters, has faced issues including overcrowding, radicalization and security challenges. Some detainees have been transferred to Iraq or repatriated to their home countries, though progress has been slow.
Questions about the future of detention centers in northeast Syria have intensified since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December. Under an agreement signed in March between the SDF and the new Damascus authorities, the SDF is expected to eventually transfer management of the camps and detention centers to Damascus, though implementation has proceeded slowly.
The U.S. military has maintained pressure for years on countries with citizens in the camps and detention centers to arrange repatriation. On Wednesday, France announced it had returned three French women and ten children from camps in northeastern Syria.
Thousands of Iraqi nationals detained in Syria have also been transferred to Iraq for trial over the years, many facing capital punishment or lengthy prison sentences upon conviction.
