Most foreign families of suspected Islamic State fighters have left the al-Hawl camp in north-east Syria after the facility came under Syrian government control, raising security and humanitarian concerns about their whereabouts.
The foreigners' annexe of the camp, which previously held about 6,000 women and children from 42 countries, is now mostly empty. Many residents have reportedly gone to Idlib, with some escaping through cut fences or being taken by fighters. The camp also holds around 20,000 Syrians and Iraqis.
Humanitarian groups say the departures have been chaotic and unorganised since the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces abandoned the facility on 20 January. Jihan Hanan, former director of al-Hawl, said: “Every day, cars would come and take them at night and take them to Idlib. It wasn’t done in an organised way.”
Beatrice Eriksson of Repatriate the Children warned that the disorganised releases leave women and children vulnerable to trafficking or recruitment by extremist groups. She urged states to intervene and repatriate their citizens, adding: “Ending arbitrary detention is necessary, but the immediate priority must be to identify and protect these children and families.”
The US military has transferred about 3,000 IS detainees to Iraq and plans to move 4,000 more, potentially facilitating a US withdrawal from Syria. The Syrian government has blamed the escapes on the SDF, which it said abandoned the camp without coordination.
