Syrian Kurds have confirmed forging a deal with Baghdad to pave the way for the return of 31,000 displaced Iraqis, most of whom are women and children settled in camps in northeastern Syria.
"A delegation from the Iraqi cabinet visited the autonomous administration to discuss the return to Iraq of displaced Iraqis and an agreement was reached," Kurdish official Mahmud Kero told AFP.
"So far 4,000 people have signed up and we are waiting for the Iraqi government to open up the Iraqi border" to begin the returns, he noted.
Kero said many of the displaced, including children born on Syrian soil, did not have Iraqi identity papers.
"We have asked the Iraqi government to find a solution," he said.
Suspected ISIS militants who either surrendered or were caught while fleeing are not included in the deal.
The returnees would be housed in a camp near northwestern Iraq's Sinjar region, to be completed within two months, the official said.
Since there are signs that some of the returnees could be ISIS families the Iraqi authorities are preparing security checks to sift through the new arrivals, said Ali Abbas, an official at the ministry of displacement and migration.
"We can't just let them melt back into society."
He said they would follow "cultural and religious courses" to rehabilitate them after they were "brain-washed" by ISIS, AFP reported.
Last month,the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced victory over ISIS.
