The U.S. military has slowed its transfer of Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq this week, seven sources familiar with the matter said, after Baghdad urged other countries to take back thousands of foreign jihadists.
On January 21, the U.S. said it had begun moving detainees following the rapid collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria, which raised concerns over the security of prisons and detention camps they had been guarding.
Washington initially expected to move as many as 7,000 fighters to Iraq within days. More than a week on, however, only around 500 have been transferred, according to two Iraqi judicial officials, two Iraqi security officials and three diplomats from countries whose nationals are among those moved. An Iraqi foreign ministry official said the figure was under 500.
Iraqi officials and a Western diplomat told Reuters that Baghdad asked the U.S. to slow the pace to allow time to press other countries to repatriate their own citizens and to prepare additional prison facilities.
Those transferred so far include about 130 Iraqis and roughly 400 foreigners, the sources said.
The slowdown, which has not been previously reported, reflects Western governments’ reluctance to take back citizens who joined Islamic State during its self-declared caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq from 2014. Many foreign fighters were later captured in Syria and held for years in northeastern prisons without trial.
The U.S. State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iraq wary of mass transfers
Iraq agreed to host detainees moved by the U.S. after dozens of fighters briefly escaped from a Syrian facility, prompting fears of further breakouts, Iraqi officials said.
But while Baghdad has tried and sentenced dozens of foreign fighters in recent years, it balked at taking custody of all 7,000, citing pressure on courts and prisons. Officials also said that issuing death sentences could draw criticism from Western governments and rights groups.
“It’s a trap,” said one senior Iraqi judicial source. “These Western countries oppose the death penalty but refuse to take back their terrorists. Why should we carry the burden of being seen as the executioner?”
Responding to Reuters, Hisham al-Alawi, undersecretary at Iraq’s foreign ministry, said fewer than 500 detainees had been transferred so far. He reiterated that Iraq has long called on foreign states to take responsibility for their citizens. While some have complied, many have not, he said.
Western countries have struggled for years with how to handle citizens who joined Islamic State. Prosecuting them at home can be harder than in Iraq, diplomats said, because courts often require proof of direct involvement in violence. Governments also fear public backlash if fighters are repatriated and later released.
In Norway, the return of an Islamic State-linked woman in 2020 sparked a cabinet crisis that eventually brought down the government.
As a result, thousands of foreign fighters have remained in detention in Syria and Iraq for nearly a decade, despite repeated U.S. calls for countries to repatriate and prosecute their nationals. Washington itself has done so.
Repatriation urged
A senior Iraqi judicial source said Baghdad is working with the U.S. State Department to increase pressure on other countries to begin repatriations.
After the transfers began, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the foreign detainees would be held 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 face an uncomfortable choice: repatriation, which could be politically unpopular, or leaving their citizens to face possible death sentences in Iraq.
One diplomat said Baghdad had begun discussions with their country, though policy remained unchanged. “It would be difficult for us to accept that they are transferred to Iraq if they are then going to get their heads chopped off,” another diplomat said.
Letta Tayler, an associate fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, warned that mass transfers to Iraq carry “mind-boggling legal implications.” She said they could prolong indefinite detention without trial and expose detainees to torture or executions following flawed convictions—concerns the U.S. has previously raised about trials in Iraq.
“The only viable solution is for countries with fair justice systems to repatriate their nationals,” Tayler said.
