Morocco plans repatriation of Islamic State-linked nationals from Iraq

The plan would cover several groups, including former fighters as well as women and children who had been living in camps in northeastern Syria.

They had previously been held in prisons and camps run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which guarded facilities holding suspected Islamic State members and their families during the conflict.

Authorities estimate that 1,667 Moroccans travelled to Syria and Iraq to join jihadist groups. Of those, 279 have returned to Morocco while 244 were detained in prisons run by the SDF in northeastern Syria.

Hundreds of Moroccan women and children also remain in camps in the region. According to figures cited by the official, 269 women and 627 minors are still in the conflict zone, while another 134 women and 354 children are held in SDF-run camps.

Morocco has previously repatriated a limited number of detainees from the region. In March 2019, eight Moroccan fighters held by Kurdish forces in Syria were returned and later sentenced by Moroccan courts to prison terms ranging from 13 to 18 years on terrorism-related charges.

The issue of citizens travelling to Syria and Iraq to join jihadist organisations has been a concern for Moroccan authorities for more than a decade. Security services have monitored the return of former fighters and their families and prosecuted some of those who came back to the country.

Moroccan law criminalises participation in jihadist organisations abroad and allows prison sentences of up to 10 years for those convicted.

The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), established in 2015, has dismantled dozens of militant cells and arrested more than 1,000 suspected jihadists, including suspects linked to an Islamic State plot foiled in 2025.

Reuters, Maghrebi.org