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After years in a Syrian detention camp, Ibrahim Darwish was relieved to be allowed to return home to Iraq, but his joy was quickly punctured by the harsh reality that he had to disown his sons accused of being jihadists.”All I wanted was to return to Iraq,” the 64-year-old said of his time in the Kurdish-controlled al-Hol camp, where family members of suspected Islamic State group fighters are held in prison-like conditions alongside refugees and displaced people.But back home in Iraq, “I had to disown my sons. My house is gone,” he said. “I am back to square one.” Thousands of Iraqi returnees from the camp have faced major obstacles reintegrating into their communities, their perceived affiliation with IS casting a dark shadow over their prospects.AFP spoke to more than 15 returnees, humanitarian workers and a lawyer, most of whom requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.They described armed groups and local authorities in some areas pressuring returnees to cut ties with relatives suspected of IS links as a precondition for going home or obtaining essential documents.A lawyer for many returnees equated the pledges of disownment to denunciations, “essentially complaints by one family member against another”.He also warned of a widespread misconception among returnees that they must comply in order to obtain identity cards and other government papers.But a senior Iraqi official insisted that the authorities supported reintegration, including when it came to the issuance of documents.Requesting “disownment statements has become illegal, and anyone who asks for it should be reported”, the official told AFP. – ‘Moral error’ -Darwish said he was allowed to leave al-Hol after receiving Iraqi security clearance and support from his tribal leader.Back in Iraq, he spent the first several months at al-Jadaa camp, presented by the authorities as a “rehabilitation” centre where returnees wait for further permission to return home.There, “we felt the most welcome”, Darwish said.But when it was time to go home to Salaheddin province, Darwish said local authorities told him he first had to disown his sons, who are locked away on suspicion of joining IS — a charge he denies. Reluctantly, he complied.Otherwise, “how was I going to farm my land and make ends meet?” he said.In the northern city of Mosul, one woman in her thirties told AFP she was afraid to return to her hometown in Salaheddin, where her father was arrested upon his arrival and later passed away in prison.She is currently squatting with her sister and children in a dilapidated house, living in fear of eviction.When the family first returned to Iraq, she said, people “looked at us differently, just because we came from al-Hol”.Now her concern is obtaining new identity cards, which are essential for accessing healthcare, education and employment, and she fears she will have to disown her husband to do so.The authorities, she said, “did well” by bringing them back from al-Hol, where many speak of increased violence, but they must now solve the issue of reintegration.”We need them to support us so we can stand on our feet,” she added.Thanassis Cambanis, director of New York-based Century International, said the returnees “face a murky future”, especially since some of those tarred as IS families are denied documentation. “At a minimum, collective punishment of the ISIS families is an injustice and a moral error,” Cambanis warned. “At a maximum, Iraq’s policy creates a ripe pool of potential recruits for violent sectarian extremists.” – ‘Expanded support’ -While many countries refuse to repatriate their nationals from al-Hol, Baghdad has so far brought back around 17,000 people, mostly women and children.Local and international organisations facilitated reintegration, but their operations have been affected by US President Donald Trump’s decision to cut foreign aid.The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), a Geneva-registered organisation that focuses on preventing extremism, supports several centres that have so far assisted around 6,000 returnees.According to GCERF’s Kevin Osborne, the centres provide services such as psychosocial support and vocational training.But the growing number of returnees requires “expanded support to adequately prepare communities and enable smooth, sustainable reintegration”, Osborne said.Noran Mahmood, of the GCREF-supported Iraqi Institution for Development, said many returnees fear “society’s refusal” to welcome them, as if having spent time in al-Hol is a “disgrace”.Her organisation in Mosul provides counselling for the many returnees who suffer from depression, insomnia and anxiety.Rahaf, 24, is one of the many women receiving help after years of accumulated trauma.With the organisation’s assistance, she achieved her long-held dream of furthering her education, enrolling in middle school.”I feel successful,” she said. “I want to become a lawyer or a teacher.”

China’s exports rose more than expected in June, official data showed Monday, after Washington and Beijing agreed a tentative deal to lower swingeing tariffs on each other.Data from the General Administration of Customs said exports climbed 5.8 percent year-on-year, topping the five percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.Imports rose 1.1 percent, higher the …

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Rising from the muddy fields on the Mekong riverbank in Laos, a lotus tops a casino in a sprawling city which analysts decry as a centre for cybercrime.Shabby, mismatched facades –- including an Iberian-style plaza replete with a church tower, turrets and statues — stand alongside high-rise shells. The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ) is …

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Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed more than 40 Palestinians, including children at a water distribution point, as talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stalled.Delegations from Israel and the Palestinian militant group have now spent a week trying to agree on a temporary truce to halt 21 months of devastating fighting in the Gaza Strip.On the ground, civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said eight children were among the 10 victims of a drone strike at a water point. Israel’s military blamed it on a “technical error” when targeting a militant in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, adding “the munition fell dozens of meters from the target”.Washington is Israel’s top ally and Donald Trump has been pushing for a ceasefire, with the US president saying Sunday he was hopeful of a deal.But there was no immediate sign an end to the fighting was near. Strikes across the Palestinian territory on Sunday killed at least 43 people, including 11 at a Gaza City market, Bassal said.In Nuseirat, resident Khaled Rayyan told AFP he was woken by the sound of two large explosions.”Our neighbour and his children were under the rubble” of a house hit, he said.Another resident, Mahmud al-Shami, called on the negotiators to secure a ceasefire deal.”What happened to us has never happened in the entire history of humanity,” he said. “Enough.”- Targets -The Israeli military, which has recently intensified operations across Gaza, said that in the past 24 hours the air force “struck more than 150 terror targets”.It released aerial footage of what it said were fighter jet strikes attacking Hamas targets around Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, showing explosions on the ground and thick smoke in the sky.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which led to 1,219 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Of the 251 people taken hostage by militants that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry says that at least 58,026 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory campaign. The United Nations considers those figures reliable.UN agencies on Saturday warned that fuel shortages had reached “critical levels”, threatening to worsen conditions for Gaza’s more than two million people.”Only 150,000 litres of fuel have been allowed in over the past few days — an amount that covers less than one day’s needs,” the head of the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza, Amjad Shawa, told AFP on Sunday.”We require 275,000 litres of fuel per day to meet basic needs.”- Forced displacement fears -Talks in the Qatari capital Doha to seal a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release were in the balance on Saturday after Israel and Hamas accused each other of trying to block a deal.Despite the deadlock, Trump said “hopefully we’re going to get that straightened out over the next week”, speaking to reporters Sunday as he echoed similarly optimistic comments he made July 4.Hamas wants the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but a Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks said Israel had presented plans to maintain troops in more than 40 percent of the territory.The source said Israel wanted to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the south of Gaza “in preparation for forcibly displacing them to Egypt or other countries”.A senior Israeli official said Israel had demonstrated an openness “to flexibility in the negotiations, while Hamas remains intransigent, clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement”.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is prepared to enter talks for a more lasting end to hostilities once a temporary truce is agreed, but only if Hamas disarms.Netanyahu on Sunday evening faced renewed pressure to secure the release of all hostages when protesters beamed images of captives onto buildings near his Jerusalem office.”The absolute majority want a deal even (at the cost of) ending the fighting,” Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod is still being held, told AFP.

US senators on Sunday touted a bipartisan bill that would arm President Donald Trump with “sledgehammer” sanctions to use against Russia, ahead of a visit by the US special envoy to Ukraine.Trump has indicated he would be open to the sanctions bill as relations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin grow increasingly frosty.US special envoy Keith …

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