800 Iraqi refugees return home from northeast Syria over difficult economic conditions
March 4, 2022, 9:15 am

800 Iraqi refugees return home from northeast Syria over difficult economic conditions

Refugee children at Al Hole Camp (File photo: Pan Armenian Charity Association)

The Arab News reported, citing the AFP, a Syrian official in the region’s Kurdish semi-autonomous administration said that eight hundred Iraqi refugees returned home from northeast Syria on Thursday and hundreds more are to follow.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the first group left on buses via the Al-Yarubiyah border crossing.

The Syrian Kurdish source told AFP, the Iraqi government has “agreed to the return of (a total of) 800 families,” adding that many of them had sought refuge in Syria after the Daesh group expanded its presence in Iraq.

They had been living in villages bordering Iraq, under the control of the Kurdish-led forces that rule regions of north and northeast Syria.

A senior Iraqi security source said: “We have been checking their identities for security reasons for the past year.

He added: “They’ve been suffering from the difficult economic conditions in Syria.”

Relatives of jihadists, including children, are held in Kurdish-controlled camps in Syria’s northeast, the largest of which is Al-Hol with around 56,000 displaced people and refugees.

Since last year, Iraqi authorities have repatriated hundreds of Iraqi families from Al-Hol.

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The Daesh group ruled large swathes of Iraq between 2014 and 2017.

The report noted that Kurdish-led forces backed by the United States seized the group’s last territorial bastion in Syria in 2019.

Source: arabnews

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”