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........

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