‘Extreme situation’: Syria’s al-Hol camp houses thousands of ISIS families

Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria has exploded in size, going from sheltering about 10,000 people last December to more than 75,000 today, according to figures from the United Nations. The camp is housing people who fled the last territory of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) caliphate in eastern Syria. Among them are thousands of family members of ISIS fighters – Syrians, Iraqis, and people from around the world. 

The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Panos Moumtzis, on Thursday appealed for urgent assistance for some 2,500 foreign children identified by UNICEF who are essentially stateless as their home governments resist repatriating the ISIS families. 

“These children do have a father and a mother, and their father and mother have a nationality, and therefore a solution has to be found… for the children,” he said. 

“This is an extreme, extraordinary situation; I don’t think we have ever seen such a large number in a complex protection situation, and clearly this requires many actors to work together to be able to find a way forward.”

He estimated that about 43 percent of the camp residents are Syrians, 42 percent are Iraqis, and the remaining 15 percent are foreigners. Of the total population, 66 percent are children and just 10 percent are men. 

Conditions in the camp are desperate. According to UN figures, 260 people died during the journey to the camp from the frontlines in Deir ez-Zor province or shortly after arriving. Most of them – 211 – were children under the age of five. 

The foreign women and children are being held in a separate area of the camp. They are the ones clinging onto the extremist group’s brutal ideology and the radical women attack their guards and burn down the tents of women seen talking to men or removing their veils, according to a recent report by the BBC. 

Western nations have been reluctant to repatriate their nationals because of security concerns with bringing home suspected terrorists and worries they would not be able to build a case to secure prosecution in their home courts. 

Russia, France, and Germany are among nations that have brought home some children. The Kurdish administration has repeatedly warned that they cannot manage the situation without international support. 

Photos: Delil Souleiman/AFP