Mosul, Iraq - As Iraq accelerates its plan to repatriate thousands of citizens from Syria's Al-Hol camp, the road home for returnees is far from smooth.
In Mosul, once the self-declared capital of the Islamic State (IS) group, families returning after years in the camp face stalled paperwork, hostile neighbours, and fears of collective punishment.
While the Iraqi government touts the effort as one of the largest post-conflict reintegration drives in the country's history, many locals remain wary, especially after a controversial amnesty law raised concerns that former IS affiliates could walk free.
The Ministry of Migration and Displacement reported that 569 individuals were repatriated from Al-Hol in February 2025 alone. The government plans to return all 20,000 Iraqis from the camp by 2027, with the al-Jadaa Centre south of Mosul serving as a holding site for screening and rehabilitation.
Iraqi officials say the campaign is key to closing a painful chapter in the country's history. But on the ground, trust is harder to rebuild.
"There's pressure from above to absorb these families, but people here haven't forgotten what happened,” said a member of Mosul's reconciliation committee, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
"Every family has a story - of loss, betrayal, fear. It's not easy to just welcome people back."
Former IS-affiliated families in Iraq, particularly around Mosul, face severe stigma and restrictions upon return. Many are confined to camps like al-Jadaa and Hammam al-Alil, unable to go back to their home villages without a guarantor and police oversight.
In many cases, their houses were destroyed during the conflict, leaving them without shelter. Even when allowed to return, they face intense discrimination - finding jobs is difficult, and marriages are often blocked by community rejection. The deep-rooted stigma continues to prevent meaningful reintegration.
Sarmad Amjad, Iraq Project Leader at PAX, said that one of the core issues is the government's failure to prepare communities before sending returnees back.
“Reconciliation should not be the first step,” he said. "Victims are asking for accountability, for reparations, for recognition. Only after that can we talk about reintegration.”
Amjad noted that returnees are often brought back under police escort, with communities ordered not to interfere. "They are sending families back and telling the community: 'Don't object, don't talk, just accept.' That's not justice. That's enforcement,” he said.
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“In the long term, revenge is a real risk,” he said, referencing cases of retaliation in Tal Afar and Qayyarah. He added that many returnees lack legal documents, making it impossible for their children to enrol in school or access services, leaving them vulnerable to renewed cycles of exclusion and extremism.
Amjad also questioned the credibility of ideological rehabilitation efforts at the al-Jadaa camp, noting a lack of preparation in host communities. "Children face bullying the moment they arrive,” he said. Meanwhile, reports of harassment and abuse by security forces during transfers add to the trauma and mistrust.
The newly passed General Amnesty Law, which excludes retrials for terrorism-related offences, has heightened these tensions. Human rights advocates warn that the law could shield individuals who committed grave abuses during the war with IS.
Amjad added that the law, while originally proposed to help review unjust detentions of Sunni civilians, has been politicised and expanded to include cases of corruption and drug trafficking. "It's no longer just about reviewing cases of forced affiliation with IS - it's a political deal between Sunni and Shia parties dressed as legal reform,” he said.
In Mosul, where the scars of war are still visible in collapsed buildings and cratered roads, suspicion lingers.
Many returnees remain in limbo, confined to reintegration centres until local authorities or tribal leaders sign off on their resettlement. In some towns, UN observers have noted that communities are excluded from planning processes altogether.
A new report by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), based on surveys in Anbar, Salah al-Din, and Nineveh governorates, warns that blanket reintegration policies are unlikely to work across Iraq's diverse post-conflict landscapes. The study found that community receptivity varied widely depending on factors such as prior experiences with violence, the influence of tribes and militias, and perceptions of state legitimacy.
"Returnees were more likely to be accepted in areas where armed groups played a more dominant role than the central government during the conflict," wrote Mara Revkin, one of the report's lead authors. "This suggests that local dynamics - not just national policy - are critical to whether reintegration succeeds or fails.”
Sarah Sanbar of Human Rights Watch echoed this caution, pointing to the complex legacy of mass arrests during the anti-IS campaign between 2016 and 2018. Thousands were detained and convicted in rushed, often unfair trials that lacked basic due process, she said.
"We don’t know how many unlawful or wrongful convictions resulted from these trials,” Sanbar told The New Arab.
"Those people absolutely deserve to have their cases reheard in a way that is fair and impartial. But on the other hand, there are many of those trials that targeted and resulted in convictions of people who really did do things wrong. It's imperative that they are held accountable.”
Sanbar also warned of the danger of renewed radicalisation if returnees are marginalised again. "There are anecdotal stories about people being denied services or treated unfairly because of perceived affiliation,” she said. "That sort of exclusion is exactly what can fuel another cycle of violence.”
That fear resonates deeply among Yazidis, who suffered genocide, systematic enslavement, and mass displacement at the hands of IS. For them, the return of individuals from Al-Hol is not merely controversial - it's alarming.
Many survivors believe some returnees still harbour extremist beliefs and pose a threat to communities that have already endured unimaginable trauma. Yet, the momentum behind the repatriation program has left Yazidi civil society feeling powerless.
"I have been to Al-Hol and many still believe in ISIS ideology,” Pari Ibrahim, founder of the Free Yezidi Foundation, told TNA. “We do not want to live among these people in Iraq, and we do not believe there are sufficient safeguards to protect our people from future atrocities.”
The situation is further exacerbated, she said, by the closure of international accountability mechanisms like UNITAD - the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by IS.
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“Iraq has taken a course to present normalcy and calm to the outside world,” Ibrahim explained. “That is why UNITAD was closed, and UNAMI will be closing. But justice and accountability have been fleeting.”
Yazidi civil society can do very little to stop returnee efforts, she added.
"We’ve seen deradicalisation programs from the US and elsewhere, but I’m not convinced they work,” Pari said. “One woman brought back from Al-Hol explained that her relatives were all Daesh and kept Yazidi slaves, and she saw nothing wrong with it. That sort of ideology is not easily defeated.”
Amjad also expressed alarm over reports of returnees maintaining contact with active IS members. "They still call family members in the group, and sometimes they visit secretly at night. This is not fiction - it's been documented,” he said.
The unease is not limited to Yazidis. In Salah al-Din province, families of victims from the Camp Speicher massacre - where IS executed 1,700 Shia cadets - have also voiced demands for public trials and transparency. Across Iraq, victims of IS atrocities are calling not just for reintegration strategies, but for a credible justice process that affirms the gravity of what occurred.
"This is not only for Yazidis,” Ibrahim said. "Everyone who was affected by Daesh would benefit from public trials in Iraq. Yazidis need this more than any other community, but justice is for all.”
In response to rising concerns, the United Nations and the Iraqi government launched the second phase of the ‘One UN Plan’ titled New Beginnings, which seeks to coordinate the safe and dignified return of Iraqis from Al-Hol. The program includes mental health support, legal aid, and community outreach, though its long-term impact remains unclear.
"The challenge is not just bringing people back - it's ensuring they can return in a way that promotes peace and doesn't reopen wounds,” said a UN official familiar with the program, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, in neighbourhoods across Mosul, the reintegration of returnees plays out one interaction at a time. A grocer in Bab al-Tob said he served returnee families but avoided conversation. "I don't ask where they came from. It's safer that way,” he told TNA.
A schoolteacher in Al-Muthanna neighbourhood said he welcomed children of returnees in his class, but had concerns. "Some of the boys talk about war like it's a game. You wonder what they heard growing up.”
Experts agree that ignoring these tensions won’t make them go away.
“Reintegration must be more than a policy on paper,” Sanbar said. "It has to involve communities, individuals, and a clear commitment to justice. Otherwise, the wounds of the past will simply fester.”
Robert Bociaga is a journalist and photographer focusing on international relations and human rights
Follow him on X: @BociagaRobert