Iraq Begins the Deportation of Foreign Female Prisoners and Their Children .. Details of the Ministry of Justice Plan

In an important humanitarian and administrative step, the Iraqi Ministry of Justice announced yesterday, Saturday, August 23, the start of implementing a plan to deport foreign and Arab female prisoners along with their accompanying children to their home countries, based on memorandums of understanding, cooperation agreements, and the principle of reciprocity.

Ministry spokesman Ahmed Laibi confirmed that the Supreme Ministerial Council for National Security issued an order to form a high committee chaired by Minister of Justice Khaled Shawani, with membership from the Supreme Judicial Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Security Advisory, tasked with developing and implementing this plan.

Laibi explained that the committee is coordinating efforts with the embassies of the concerned countries to begin the deportation procedures, noting that there are hundreds of female prisoners and their accompanying children in Iraqi correctional facilities.

He added that this step aims to reduce overcrowding in prisons and achieve strategic gains for the country while maintaining the humanitarian aspect.

The spokesman indicated that the ministry is in the process of amending previous memorandums of understanding and agreements with some countries to align with the new government decisions that allow for the transfer of female inmates and their children, excluding death sentences from these procedures.

For his part, Minister of Justice Khaled Shawani announced the formation of the high committee to organize the handover of foreign female prisoners who are not sentenced to death, affirming the ministry's commitment to cooperating with embassies to achieve this goal.

This step comes as part of Iraq's efforts to organize the file of foreign female prisoners and enhance international cooperation in the judicial and humanitarian fields.