The United States has slowed the transfer of Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq, according to seven sources familiar with the matter, following pressure from Baghdad and renewed calls for foreign governments to repatriate their own nationals.
The US military announced on January 21 that it had begun transferring detainees after the rapid collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria raised fears about the security of prisons and detention camps holding thousands of Islamic State fighters.
Washington initially expected to move up to 7,000 detainees within days. More than a week later, however, fewer than 500 had been transferred, according to Iraqi judicial and security officials as well as diplomats from countries whose citizens are among those detained.
What prompted the urgency to move detainees?
The collapse of the SDF, which had guarded Islamic State prisoners for years, created uncertainty over the safety of detention facilities and the risk of mass escapes. That concern was heightened by a brief breakout in which dozens of detainees escaped from a Syrian facility, Iraqi officials said.
Faced with the possibility of thousands of hardened militants slipping free, the United States moved quickly to relocate detainees — with Iraq emerging as the most immediate option.
Why is Iraq pushing back?
While Baghdad agreed to host detainees transferred by the US military, it quickly balked at receiving all 7,000 fighters. Iraqi officials said they asked Washington to slow the influx to allow time to negotiate with other countries on repatriating their own nationals and to prepare additional detention facilities. So far, those transferred include around 130 Iraqis and roughly 400 foreign fighters.
Iraq has already tried and sentenced dozens of foreign Islamic State members in recent years. But officials warned that absorbing thousands more would overwhelm the country’s courts and prison system.
More critically, mass trials could expose Baghdad to international backlash, particularly if detainees receive death sentences.
Why are executions such a sensitive issue?
Iraq retains the death penalty, and Islamic State convictions frequently result in capital punishment. That creates a political and moral dilemma for Western governments that oppose executions but refuse to take back their own citizens.
“This is a trap,”
said one senior Iraqi judicial official.
“These Western countries object to the death penalty, but refuse to receive their terrorists. Why should we bear the burden of being seen as the butcher?”
Iraqi officials say they are being asked to shoulder both the legal and reputational costs of prosecuting foreign fighters whom other governments are unwilling to confront at home.
Why are Western countries reluctant to repatriate detainees?
The question of what to do with citizens who joined Islamic State has haunted Western governments for nearly a decade.
Diplomats from several countries said securing convictions at home can be more difficult than in Iraq, where courts often rely on membership in Islamic State rather than proving involvement in specific crimes. In Western legal systems, prosecutors typically must demonstrate direct participation in acts of violence.
Governments also fear public backlash if repatriated fighters are released due to insufficient evidence. In Norway, the return of an Islamic State-linked woman in 2020 triggered a political crisis that ultimately collapsed the government.
As a result, thousands of foreign fighters have remained in detention in Syria and Iraq for years, often without trial, despite repeated US calls for countries to take responsibility for their citizens.
What is Washington’s position?
The US State Department and Pentagon have not commented publicly on the slowdown in transfers. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has emphasized that the detainees’ stay in Iraq is meant to be temporary.
“The United States urges countries to take responsibility and repatriate their citizens in these facilities to face justice,”
Rubio said after the transfers began. A senior Iraqi judicial source said Baghdad is now working with the US State Department to intensify pressure on reluctant governments to accept their nationals.
What choices do foreign governments face now?
Diplomats from countries with nationals already transferred to Iraq described an increasingly stark dilemma: repatriate detainees and face domestic political backlash, or allow them to be tried in Iraq, where they could face execution — a result likely to provoke outrage at home.
One diplomat said discussions with Baghdad had begun but that their government’s policy had not changed.
“It would be difficult for us to accept that they are transferred to Iraq if they are then going to get their head chopped off,”
another diplomat said.
What are the legal and human rights concerns?
Human rights experts warn that mass transfers to Iraq carry serious legal risks. Letta Tayler of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism described the situation as having “mind-boggling legal implications.”
She said the transfers could prolong indefinite detention without trial and expose detainees to torture or executions based on flawed judicial processes. The US itself has previously raised concerns about the fairness of Islamic State trials in Iraq.
“The only viable solution is for countries with fair justice systems to repatriate their nationals,”
Tayler said.
Is there a way out of the impasse?
For now, the slowdown in transfers reflects a broader stalemate. Iraq does not want to become the world’s dumping ground for unwanted foreign fighters. Western governments remain unwilling to confront the political cost of bringing detainees home. And the United States is caught between the collapse of security arrangements in Syria and its inability to force allies to act.
Unless large numbers of countries reverse course on repatriation, the fate of thousands of Islamic State detainees will remain unresolved — prolonging a system of legal limbo that few governments are willing to defend, but even fewer are prepared to dismantle.
