BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities on Wednesday deported hundreds of displaced people, mostly women and children, from a camp in the northern province of Nineveh to areas where they fled, despite fears from humanitarian organizations what awaits them upon their return.

The civilians, originally from the Hawija district of Kirkuk governorate (north of Baghdad), fled the fighting against ISIS years ago to Hamam al-Alil camp.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Iraqi officials began escorting them to more than a dozen white buses bearing the emblem of the Ministry of Transport, waiting for them to transport them.

The women and their children carried a few luggage and lined up near the buses, while officials were checking their names for lists.

"We left for two years and now they told us to go back. But we don't know our fate, because our homes are demolished," said displaced woman Um Hakam, 65, who spent two years in the camp when she left the camp.

The deputy governor of Nineveh province for displaced persons and camps Ali Khidr said that 160 families or about 550 people will be returned to Kirkuk province as part of the transfer operations.

He added that 35 days ago, 35 families had been returned to Anbar province (west), and work was under way to return the rest to their original provinces.

He pointed out that there are more than 4500 displaced families from different governorates outside Nineveh, they have to return to their areas and the local governments help them.

More than 1.6 million displaced people are still living in camps in Iraq, nearly two years after the declaration of "victory" over ISIL, due to lack of infrastructure and delays in reconstruction.

The Government stressed that its policy was to return all displaced persons to their areas of origin, but most of them remained devastating and lacking services.

Women in a displacement camp in northern Iraq (Reuters)

Worry
After hours of waiting under the hot sun, the buses set off at 2 pm (local time), heading for Hawija, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, which oversees the Hammam al-Alil camp and monitors the transport.

Norwegian Council spokesman Tom Beer Costa said the organization was concerned about the operation, as there were often no homes for displaced people to return to, as well as fear of reprisals within their communities for suspicion of being linked to IS.

"They are scared, and most of the families who leave today from Hawija have no identity papers."

He said returning to the areas without official documents meant they would not be able to get anything, and children would not be able to go to school, health care or food rations.

He urged the Government to ensure that the areas of the displaced are safe for their return and to give priority to reconciliation efforts.

Amnesty International Regional Director Lynn Maalouf said in a statement on Wednesday that the deportation was "premature."

She told Amnesty International that the Iraqi authorities have repeatedly assured Amnesty International that any return is voluntary. This sudden change in policy is worrying and contrary to international human rights law and standards, as well as international humanitarian law.

"We urge the authorities to immediately halt these forcible returns."