ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An American child who spent their entire life inside a displacement camp for individuals linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria (Rojava) was brought home last week, the State Department announced Tuesday, urging other countries to follow suit for their nationals.
“Last week the United States repatriated a U.S. citizen minor from a displaced persons camp in northeast Syria for unification with the child's family,” the State Department said in a statement.“Our interagency efforts have given this child, who has known nothing of life outside of the camps, a future free from the influence and dangers of ISIS terrorism.”
Thousands of individuals with suspected ISIS ties are held in al-Hol and Roj camps, both located in Rojava’s Hasaka province and controlled by the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Al-Hol is the larger of the two, housing 34,927 people as of April. Of these, 15,681 were Iraqis, 15,861 Syrians, and 6,385 foreigners, according to data obtained by Rudaw English.
The SDF serves as the de facto military of Rojava and is the main local partner of the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition.
Around 30,000 people from over 70 countries remain in the two camps, most of them children under the age of 12, the State Department said, stressing that “they deserve a chance at life outside the camps.”
Al-Hol has become notorious for its poor conditions and has been described as a breeding ground for terrorism. Since ISIS’s territorial defeat in 2019, tens of thousands of people linked to the group - mostly Iraqis and Syrians - have been held there, alongside others from across the world who traveled to join the jihadists’ so-called caliphate.
Iraq has been repatriating its citizens from the camps in groups and providing rehabilitation. Many other countries, however, remain reluctant to take back their nationals over fears of extremist ideology spreading at home.
“The only durable solution to the humanitarian and security crisis in these displaced persons camps in northeast Syria is for countries of origin to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate, and where appropriate, ensure accountability for their nationals,” the State Department said.
The same applies to former ISIS fighters held in detention centers in Rojava, Washington added, urging countries “not to look to others to solve the problem for them,” and to share responsibility for repatriation efforts.
Iraq plans to host a conference in Geneva in September to encourage more countries to repatriate their citizens from the camps, the country’s national security advisor announced last month.
Rojava and US officials have repeatedly called on foreign governments to take responsibility for their nationals still stranded in the camps.
