The Islamic State, which is also known with the names of ISIS or Daesh, was born in 2004 from the organization of Al Qaeda in Iraq. At the peak of ISIS expansion, it had control over about 40% of Iraq and around 30% of Syria. In December of 2017, ISIS had already lost over 95% of its territory. The SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), with the help of American troops, was able to defeat the last ISIS holdout, Baghouz, in 2019 (Timeline: the Rise, Spread, and Fall of the Islamic State, 2019). The end of the “caliphate” left thousands of men, women, and children, who were affiliated with ISIS, detained in north-east Syria. Pop-up prisons and camps were initially established as temporary solutions to hold these individuals. Most of the people living in these conditions are from Syria and Iraq, however, the population of these camps is also made up of the so-called “third country nationals” (TCNs) coming from approximately sixty different Western and Arab countries (Devorah Margolin, Five Years After the Caliphate, Too Much Remains the Same in Northeast Syria , 2024).
Al Hol and Roj camps
The political situation in northern-easter Syria is quite complicated, due to the multiple forces acting in the region. The AANES (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria) with its military wing, the SDF, and the Global Coalition’s Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve are the main units against ISIS (Devorah Margolin, 2024).
Among the camps in this region, the Al-Hol refugee camp is the biggest site for refugees and internally displaced people in Syria. About 40.000 people live in this camp, 93% of the population is composed of women and children, 65% of whom are under the age of 18, 51% under the age of 12 (Unveiling the mental health crisis at Al-Hol Camp in northeast Syria, 2024). As a result of the collapse of ISIS, the population of the camp increased from under 10.000 in 2018, to over 70.000 in 2019. The Roj camp has a similar composition, with most inhabitants being women and children who were linked with ISIS, especially wives and female relatives. This site was born in 2014 to accept Iraqi refugees but has been expanded since. This camp holds about 2600 people, including 2100 TCNs, most of whom have been transferred from Al Hol camp. These are both closed sites, meaning that individuals are not free to leave without the permission of the camp’s administrators. Therefore, these camps have been described as essentially open-air prisons (Devorah Margolin, Five Years After the Caliphate, Too Much Remains the Same in Northeast Syria , 2024).
The conditions in these camps are extremely harsh. Human Rights Watch has reported significant difficulties in access to clean water, medical care, and education (Technical Visit to the Northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic, 2023). To be mentioned is also the severe mental health crisis taking place there, with diseases such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic disorders reaching worrying numbers (Unveiling the mental health crisis at Al-Hol Camp in northeast Syria, 2024). The situation also appears critical for the growing level of violence that has been registered in these camps, where the number of murders at Al Hol camp has made it one of the most dangerous places in the world (Achilles, 2022).
Furthermore, an extremist Daesh ideology is still very much present in the camps. Episodes of violence have specifically involved people who did not adhere to the rules of the camps decided by the women still loyal to ISIS (Khani, 2020). These sites have been defined by different authorities as “ticking bombs”, due to the extremist elements that live in the camps. Children, who are of course the most susceptible to radicalization, are at great risk of indoctrination and ISIS recruitment (Devorah Margolin, Five Years After the Caliphate, Too Much Remains the Same in Northeast Syria , 2024).
Repatriation of TNCs
Many of the concerns in these camps regard TNCs. The Kurdish authorities, who oversee these camps, have expressed their inability to take care of all IS prisoners staying there and have strongly encouraged repatriations to the third countries whose citizens are staying in the camps. Unfortunately, this process has gone far from smooth. In 2019 there was an initial spike in repatriation, and it since has increased steadily. However, most countries claim national security concerns as reasons not to repatriate their citizens, especially when it comes to men and teenage boys. Only the United States, Iraq, and other countries from the western Balkans and central Asia have made a noteworthy and regular effort to repatriate their citizens (Devorah Margolin, Five Years After the Caliphate, Too Much Remains the Same in Northeast Syria , 2024). On the other hand, countries like the UK have gone far enough to revoke citizenship to several of the foreign fighters who from 2011 to 2019 decided to leave their homes to join the “caliphate” and fight alongside it. This results in these individuals being exposed to a higher risk of exploitation and human trafficking (Submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences in response to call for inputs on “The Nexus between Forced Displacement and Contemporary Forms of Slavery”). The United States has stated on multiple occasions the importance of repatriating individuals to their home countries to reintegrate and rehabilitate, and when necessary, prosecute them (Asetta, 2023).
Many Western countries are hesitant to bring home their citizens who are detained in these camps, because establishing the exact role played by these individuals in IS is very difficult and most of them would serve short-term prison sentences. In addition, many countries worry about radicalization inside their prisons. However, leaving these people in the camps seems the worst decision if radicalization wants to be avoided. Moreover, by bringing these people home a higher level of surveillance can be applied to those who are prone to radicalization (Dworkin, 2020).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it seems clear that the situation in camps like Al Hol and Al Roj is not a long-term solution. The inhumane conditions thousands of people, most of whom are children, are living in is alarming and should concern the international community. Finally, these camps are grounds where the “caliphate” ideology is still very much alive and thriving, meaning that each country should contribute to the solution to this unresolved problem to prevent another fight against extremism and international terrorism.
Bibliography
Asetta, C. (2023, December 4). Progress in Repatriations: How Foreign Assistance Is Addressing the Humanitarian and Security Crises in Northeast Syria: Part 1 of 2. Tratto da US Department of State: https://www.state.gov/progress-in-repatriations-how-foreign-assistance-is-addressing-the-humanitarian-and-security-crises-in-northeast-syria-part-1-of-2/
Devorah Margolin, C. J. (2024, March 19). Five Years After the Caliphate, Too Much Remains the Same in Northeast Syria. Tratto da The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/five-years-after-caliphate-too-much-remains-same-northeast-syria
Devorah Margolin, C. J. (2024, March 19). Five Years After the Caliphate, Too Much Remains the Same in Northeast Syria . Tratto da The Washington Institute for near east policy: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/five-years-after-caliphate-too-much-remains-same-northeast-syria
Dworkin, A. (2020). The Repatriation of Jihadist Foreign Fighters. Tratto da European Institute of the Mediterranean: https://www.iemed.org/publication/the-repatriation-of-jihadist-foreign-fighters/
(s.d.). Submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences in response to call for inputs on “The Nexus between Forced Displacement and Contemporary Forms of Slavery”. OHCHR.
Timeline: the Rise, Spread, and Fall of the Islamic State. (2019, October 28). Retrieved from Wilson Center: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/timeline-the-rise-spread-and-fall-the-islamic-state
Unveiling the mental health crisis at Al-Hol Camp in northeast Syria. (2024, January 18). Tratto da ReliefWeb: https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/unveiling-mental-health-crisis-al-hol-camp-northeast-syria-enar#:~:text=The%20women%2C%20men%20and%20children,inhibited%20by%20restrictive%20security%20practices.
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