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The United Nations (UN) has announced it will assume management of a camp in northeastern Syria that houses thousands of individuals with alleged ties to the Islamic State (IS) group.
This decision follows the withdrawal of Kurdish-led forces, who previously administered the camp, in response to an advance by Syrian government forces. The shift in control triggered unrest, leading aid agencies to temporarily suspend operations.
Reports indicate that residents attempted to breach the camp’s perimeter, prompting disturbances and looting.
A ceasefire agreement has effectively placed much of northeastern Syria under the authority of Damascus, ending years of autonomous Kurdish governance.
During a briefing to the UN Security Council on Thursday, UN official Edem Wosornu stated that UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has “taken over camp management responsibilities” at al-Hol. Wosornu added that the agency is collaborating with Syrian authorities to re-establish humanitarian access, and that Syrian forces have established a security perimeter around the camp.
However, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric cautioned that conditions within the camp remain “tense and volatile,” with humanitarian operations still on hold due to the recent violence.
Concurrently, the United States has initiated a parallel effort to relocate high-risk detainees from the region. US Central Command announced on Wednesday that it has commenced the transfer of up to 7,000 suspected IS fighters from prisons in northeast Syria to Iraq, confirming that 150 detainees have already been moved to a “secure location” across the border.
Iraqi authorities have stated that all transferred detainees will be prosecuted under Iraqi law.
“This measure is aimed at safeguarding regional and international security from an imminent threat. Nevertheless, we emphasize that this issue should not become a long-term strategic burden on Iraq alone,” stated Iraq’s Deputy UN Ambassador, Mohammed Sahib Mejid Marzooq.
Syria’s UN Ambassador, Ibrahim Olabi, conveyed that the Syrian government welcomes the US operation to transfer IS detainees out of Syrian territory and is prepared to offer assistance.
Rights groups have cautioned that the transfers could expose detainees to serious abuses.
The Reprieve charity expressed concern that up to ten British men may be among those transferred, along with juvenile detainees, and urged the UK government to intervene urgently. The organization estimates that approximately 55 to 60 British nationals, predominantly children, remain detained in camps and prisons throughout the region.
“The prisoners transferred face being tortured, sentenced to death and executed, without being granted any meaningful opportunity to contest the allegations against them,” Katherine Cornett, Reprieve’s Deputy Director, told the BBC.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US, and the UN have consistently called for the repatriation of foreign IS suspects and their families from northeastern Syria, citing political instability and the dire conditions in the prisons and camps. However, many countries have declined to take them back.
The retreat of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the north-east marks the biggest change of control in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
An agreement between the government and the SDF will bring an autonomous region in the north-east under state control.
The Kurdish-led SDF militia withdrew from the Omar oil field amid an eastward push by government forces.
The US Central Command said in a statement that Bilal Hasan al-Jasim was killed in the attack on Friday.
This comes after Syria’s government announced its first formal recognition of Kurdish national rights since 1946.
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