Iraq intends to deport “hundreds” of foreign female prisoners and their children, according to the Ministry of Justice. However, foreign diplomats in Baghdad indicated on Monday that the procedures may take a long time. An Iraqi security official stated that the plan, which excludes women sentenced to death, includes prisoners linked to the Islamic State organization and civilian prisoners, most of whom are from Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Russia. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, Ahmed Laibi, said on Saturday that Iraqi authorities are currently forming a committee “to develop a plan for deporting foreign and Arab female inmates and their accompanying children.” He added, “We have hundreds of female inmates and their accompanying children in our correctional facilities,” noting that the committee, chaired by Justice Minister Khaled Shwani, includes representatives from the Supreme Judicial Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Security Advisory.

He emphasized the importance of this step “which contributes to reducing overcrowding in our correctional facilities.” Currently, Iraqi prisons hold about 625 foreign women with 60 children, most linked to the Islamic State, according to a judicial source. The authorities in Iraq, where infrastructure has been damaged by four decades of conflict, seek to rehabilitate prisons and reduce overcrowding, which has decreased from 300% to 150%, according to the Ministry of Justice at the end of July. Among the inmates are thousands of Iraqis and foreigners convicted of belonging to ISIS, which committed widespread violations in Iraq before local authorities declared its defeat in 2017.