Amid ongoing unrest, Iraq refuses to receive IS detainees from Syria
Though Iraq previously said it would receive and prosecute foreign Islamic State fighters from Syria, it has now rescinded its offer.
As protests and unrest in Iraq escalate, Iraqi officials have shifted their stance toward receiving foreign Islamic State (IS) fighters from Syria. Officials fear Iraq can no longer detain and prosecute IS detainees in light of the current political and security situation.
Agnes Calamar, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, said Nov. 5 that IS foreign terrorists detained in Syria and Iraq should be sent to their countries and tried, because Damascus and Baghdad cannot provide adequate and fair conditions for their trials.
Iraqi political sources spoke to the press about attempts by EU officials to persuade the Iraqi government to receive 13,000 IS operatives detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). If Iraq were to receive the detainees, it would receive financial compensation for the trials and imprisonment. Yet it seems Iraq will refuse the offer.
The Iraqi government is dodging the issue of IS fighters despite EU pressure to transfer them to Iraq for trials, even including fighters who do not have Iraqi citizenship.
