Yet, while the Kurdish authorities in Syria have called on foreign states to take back their nationals, Iraq, the foreign state with the largest contingent, has largely failed.
The 100 families were set to be among the first Iraqis in Al Hol to be returned to Iraq under plans to detain them in a new camp near the town of Qayarrah.
Iraqis held in Al Hol, are widely seen by their communities as having links to ISIS, with many of them having fled to Syria from Iraq as the group’s so-called caliphate withered after 2016.
Still, the plan to transfer Iraqis to a new camp, south of Mosul, has drawn fierce criticism, with locals claiming that those transferred are á threat to the local community.
“Humanitarian organisations are supporting contact tracing, recognising that a wider outbreak could be devastating due to the already vulnerable state of the families in the camp.”
The Kurdish officials that administer Al Hol camp over the weekend said 19 detainees who had tested positive for the virus were in isolation.
Jaber Mustafa, an administrator at the crowded camp, said staff were struggling against the spread of the virus after grappling with a wave of violence and crime that had left dozens dead in recent months. Most of the residents are children and women who move a lot between tents, Mr Mustafa said of his concerns for contagion, adding that the security situation had complicated access for aid workers.