From a camp in Syria to a classroom in Iraq: Praa’s journey

Based on reflections by Kevin Osborne, GCERF’s Deputy Head of Portfolio Management

While some would label her as a “Daesh kid”, 17-year old Praa’s story is one of justice, empathy, personal connection, hope and resilience. I met Praa during a visit to GCERF-supported reception centre for returnees in Balad, Iraq. I travelled there to see firsthand how our civil society partners are helping Iraqis who have returned from detention camps in Northeast Syria.

It was in Yathrib, the last town in Iraq to be overtaken by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the first town to be liberated, where I met Praa. Praa spent nearly seven years in the Al-Hol detention camp in Syria, from the age of 8 until she was 15. Praa and her mother were repatriated to Iraq two years ago and spent a year in the  al Jada’a rehabilitation centre until they were resettled to Yathrib in 2024. Praa is a victim of her father’s decision to join ISIS. He is now serving a 20-year prison sentence in Baghdad. When I asked about her father, Praa told me she loves him. Every few months she visits him and brings him letters and perfume.

While justice is being served to her father, his legacy is his daughter who dreams to become a lawyer and help returnee children like herself to obtain legal documents required to access education and live life with dignity. She proudly showed me her new ID card, something many returnee children still do not have and without which life is nearly impossible.

She is receiving support to recover from trauma and become a productive member of society. Society is welcoming her back with open arms. She is back in school. If Praa had returned to Iraq with no support and no opportunity for a better life, she might have remained vulnerable to influence from terrorist groups.

“Please share our picture and my story with the world so I can share it with my father the next time I see him. He will be so proud to know that I am making progress in society,” said Praa. While her father sits in a cell, he can smell the perfume and hopefully be reassured that his legacy is not a “Daesh-kid”, but rather a strong young woman living in dignity with hope of a future as a lawyer, not a terrorist fighter.

GCERF’s Global Rehabilitation and Reintegration Mechanism is giving hope to many women and children like Praa to recover from trauma, rebuild their identities and reintegrate with dignity into their communities. Through a holistic trauma-informed case management approach involving psyschosocial, psychiatric, legal, referral and education support, GCERF-funded civil society partners are rehabilitating and reintegrating thousands of returnees.    

GCERF’s focus is to support the process of repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration for the remaining 13,100 Iraqis currently living in the Al-Hol and Roj detention camps in Northeast Syria. The cost of maintaining these camps is billions while the cost to empty them through rehabilitation and reintegration is millions. The return on investment is clear: safer communities, stronger societies, and futures like Praa’s.

By helping returnees like Praa, GCERF is promoting hope, resilience, trust and compassion which are powerful alternatives to the violence and hate peddled by terrorist groups.

This story is based on reflections by Kevin, GCERF’s Deputy Head of Portfolio Management who met Praa during a high-level visit to a reception centre in Balad.