Researcher: Large-scale security operations are necessary to limit crisis in al-Hol camp

Al-Hol camp, 45 km east of al-Hasaka city, is witnessing an increase in the movement of women and ISIS cells, which is evident in the increasing number of murders, burning tents, and escape attempts that took place, as the camp recorded 37 deaths since the beginning of this year.

The killings in al-Hol camp in eastern Syria exceeded 73 incidents, in which Iraqi refugees and displaced Syrians were killed, starting with the arrival of ISIS mercenaries' families to the camp in February 2019, not to mention the "stabbing, flogging, and burning of tents" operations that the camp witnesses on a daily basis.

The camps that hold the families of ISIS mercenaries such as "al-Hol and Roj" in north- east Syria constitute great concerns for the people of north-east Syria, and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, due to the women and children saturated with the extremist ideology of ISIS they contain.

'Al-Hol camp is a large human reservoir for ISIS to preserve its ideology'

Dr. Mustafa Amin, a researcher specializing in the affairs of Islamic groups, believes that al-Hol camp represents a major crisis in north and east Syria, and it is an active focus for ISIS. He said, "The organization relies heavily on al-Hol camp to recover again, and the camp represents a large human reservoir for the organization to preserve its ideology."

He added, "There is tremendous security pressure on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from what the camp and detention centers are witnessing, and I do not think that SDF will withstand this great pressure, in light of the failure of the international coalition to play its role in this context."

Amin pointed to SDF's need for multilateral international support, saying, "In reality, with regard to al-Hol camp, SDF needs multifaceted support; logistical support by providing it with detailed information and a comprehensive database of foreign fighters who have entered Syria, and those whose families are still in the camps, specifically in al-Hol."

He added, "This database is not available with the Syrian Democratic Forces, due to the large number of people in l-Hol camp and the diversity of its residents from more than one country."

According to the recent statistics of al-Hol camp administration, there are now 60,351 people in the camp, distributed among 16,404 families, as follows:

Number of Iraqis: 30,738 people, distributed among 8,256 families.

Syrians: 21,058 people distributed among 5,619 families.

ISIS foreign families: 8,555 children and women distributed over 2,529 families.

'The international community must do its duty about this camp'

The researcher Amin stressed the need for the international community to fulfill its duties, and said: "First, the international community must find a legal mechanism to bring these families back to European countries and Western countries in general, and to prosecute them according to the internal laws in each country, or work on an international legal mechanism to try the families existing within the camp, whether women or those children who have become youth, and the enormous human supply they represent for ISIS to return again during the coming period, as they were among the cubs of the caliphate."

He added, "Other fighters who are in detention centers in north and east Syria should be tried in Syria and Iraq, well-defined legal trials, through a special law in this file, and then rehabilitate them after serving their sentences, through rehabilitation programs supported by the international community, which is an essential part which entails to eliminate this organization."

SDF is holding 19,000 mercenaries from ISIS; Syrians, Iraqis and foreigners from 55 foreign countries, along with their families in the camps, according to the latest statement of the prison official of the Syrian Democratic Forces to our agency.

The researcher Mohammed Amin noted that in the absence of all this and the reality that it is now, this camp will constitute a human reservoir for the organization, as he previously indicated, for its survival and continuation.

He said, "ISIS itself, in more than one statement, spoke directly about its work to benefit from women and children in the coming period in its operations in Syria and Iraq, so the organization's eye is always on the camps and detention centers in north and east Syria, in an attempt by the organization to remove its elements and benefit from them in its constant attempts to survive and exist."

Amin pointed out that the crisis of al-Hol camp will remain, as will the detention centers, as long as the international community, European countries and the West in general refuse to return these families, and said: "This problem and crisis will remain, as the international community has dealt with ISIS pragmatically, in a manner that relies on the direct threat, and it is imagined that this threat has disappeared after the fall of ISIS geographically."

On March 23, 2019, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the international coalition announced that they had liberated the last ISIS strongholds in north and east Syria, after 7 continuous years of battles.

He added, "But in reality ISIS still exists, and is trying to regroup, recover and reposition itself."

  It may not be geographically located, but it will try through new operations and new methods, and all of these matters are complicated for as long as there is al-Hol camp and the detention centers."

Amin pointed out that there must be 3 elements to solve the crisis of al-Hol camp and eliminate the remaining ideas inside it, the first of which is to find the legal mechanism to evacuate these people or prosecute them with international support, the second is to create a logistical mechanism to support the elimination of ISIS ideas, and the third is a security and information mechanism to pursue its members.

'Undoubtedly, security operations inside the camp are necessary in light of this situation'

In the absence of all this, researcher Mustafa Amin said, "Undoubtedly, resorting to security operations and continuous combing, in addition to stepping up the collection of information about families in this camp is very necessary, and extremely important because if things are left as they are, it will constitute a very big crisis and will constitute greater risk in the future."

Mustafa Amin, cited the seriousness of this camp, according to what was circulated in the media, saying, "We saw how ISIS women raised ISIS flags inside the camp, and carried out killings and stabbings against collaborators with the security forces and other institutions."

He said in the conclusion of his statement to our agency, "Consequently, combing the camp through a wide security operation, re-renewing and updating the database about those inside the camp, in addition to sending more information to countries that have important and necessary citizens in the organization to prevent al-Hol crisis from getting any worse require confrontation in the coming period inside the camp."

D.H

ANHA