BAGHDAD

Transfers of Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group detainees from Syria to Iraq by the US military have slowed this week following calls by Baghdad for other countries to repatriate thousands of foreign jihadists, reported Reuters.

The US military said on January 21 it had started to transfer the detainees. Its announcement followed the rapid collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, which caused uncertainty about the security of prisons and detention camps they were guarding.

The United States had expected to transfer up to 7,000 fighters to Iraq within days. But more than a week later, only about 500 have been moved, according to Iraqi judicial officials, Iraqi security officials and diplomats.

An Iraqi foreign ministry official put the number at under 500 so far.

Baghdad asked the US to slow the influx to make time for negotiations with other countries on repatriating their own nationals among the detainees and to prepare additional facilities to host the fighters.

Those moved to Iraqi facilities so far include about 130 Iraqis and some 400 foreigners.

The slowdown is linked to Western governments’ reservations about bringing home their own citizens who had joined ISIS.

Most foreign fighters were subsequently captured in Syria and held in prisons in the northeast for years without trial.

Iraq agreed to host the detainees being moved by the US military after a brief escape by dozens of fighters from one facility in Syria prompted concerns that more could flee, Iraqi government officials said.

But although it has already tried and sentenced dozens of foreign fighters in recent years, Baghdad balked at the prospect of having the full 7,000 in its custody, the officials said.

The influx could overwhelm Iraq’s courts and prisons, and sentencing detainees to death would prompt criticism from Western countries and rights groups, they said.

“It’s a trap,” one of the senior Iraqi judicial sources said. “These Western countries object to the death penalty, but refuse to receive their terrorists. Why should we bear the burden of being seen as the butcher?”

Hisham al-Alawi, Undersecretary of Iraq’s Foreign Ministry for Political Planning, said fewer than 500 detainees had been transferred to Iraq so far.

“For years, Iraq has been urging foreign states to assume their responsibilities by taking back their citizens and dealing with them in accordance with their own laws. While some countries have taken the initiative, a large number of states have not responded to our requests,” Alawi said.

The dilemma of what to do with foreign nationals who joined ISIS has plagued Western countries for the last decade.

Securing guilty verdicts against such detainees in their home countries could be harder than in Iraq, said four diplomats from countries whose nationals were captured in Syria, citing a greater need to prove direct participation in violent crimes.

Governments in such countries could face a public backlash if ISIS fighters were repatriated and then freed, the diplomats said.

The return of an ISIS-linked woman to Norway in 2020 caused a cabinet crisis that ultimately brought down the government.

As a result of Western nations’ hesitations, thousands of foreign fighters detained in Syria and Iraq remained there for nearly a decade – even though the US, which repatriated and tried its nationals, urged other countries to do the same.

A senior Iraqi judicial source said Baghdad was working with the US State Department on increasing pressure on other countries to begin repatriations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after transfers had begun that foreign ISIS members would be in Iraq temporarily. “The United States urges countries to take responsibility and repatriate their citizens in these facilities to face justice,” he said.

Two diplomats from countries with nationals now in Iraq said their governments faced an uncomfortable choice between repatriation – which would be unpopular domestically – and the possibility that their nationals would face the death penalty if tried in Iraq, an outcome that could outrage voters at home.

One of the diplomats said Baghdad had begun conversations with their country about repatriations but that their government’s policy was unchanged.

“It would be difficult for us to accept that they are transferred to Iraq if they are then going to get their head chopped off,” the second diplomat said.

Letta Tayler, an associate fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, said the mass transfer of detainees to Iraq “has mind-boggling legal implications, none of them positive.”

It could prolong their indefinite detention without trial and place detainees at risk of torture and executions based on flawed convictions, Tayler said. The US has raised concerns about unfair trials of ISIS detainees in Iraq.

“The only viable solution is for countries with fair justice systems to repatriate their nationals,” Tayler said.

In the meanwhile, a Syrian government official said on Friday that Damascus plans to permanently close two displacement camps in the northeast that hold civilians, including foreigners, linked to ISIS.

The al-Hol and Roj camps hold more than 28,000 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, according to the UN About 6,000 foreigners are housed in al-Hol and a further 2,000 in Roj.

A charity that has worked in both camps, the Swiss-based Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, said it understands Damascus aims to empty and shut the sites within a year.

Syrian forces recently took control of al-Hol after the chaotic withdrawal of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF still holds Roj where residents had in recent days reported being confined to their tents as aid groups evacuated due to rising security worries.

The civilian displacement camps are for families and others with alleged ISIS links, distinct from detention facilities that hold suspected fighters.