Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said Feb. 26 that Iraq had received 250 Iraqi Islamic State (IS) fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). He further stated that “Iraq intends to try them according to the local Iraqi laws.” On Feb. 24, the media wing of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense justified the agreement with the SDF, stating that by receiving the detainees, Iraq has guaranteed that the SDF will not be able to release them. In addition to the 250 Iraqi IS fighters, Iraq also received 30 foreign fighters and 500 additional Iraqi detainees from the SDF.

Iraqi President Barham Salih announced Feb. 25 that Iraq will also try 13 French IS fighters who were arrested in Syria. Salih did not rule out the possibility of the death penalty. According to Human Rights Watch, this marks "the first transfer of foreign [IS] suspects to be publicly recognized by the Iraqi government, and also comes after many European governments have refused to bring home and prosecute their nationals who joined [IS]."

Iraqi officials have repeatedly tried to justify to the public their motives for accepting IS fighters. Yet public skepticism and fear of returning fighters in Iraq is high, as many Iraqis — especially minority sects who were victims of IS terrorism — fear Iraq will become a safe haven for IS fighters.

On March 1, a special Yazidi committee called for investigations into the detained IS fighters, seeking information about their countries of origin in order to request compensation from those countries. Parliamentarian Rehan Ayoub, a Christian, said, “Iraq will not be a new home for foreign IS fighters.” Many Iraqis fear that the fighters will escape from prison, as happened in 2013 at Abu Ghraib.