Syria starts moving last residents from Al-Hol camp to a new site, ending its role as a major holding facility for IS-linked families after a government takeover.
DAMASCUS: Syria has begun the final evacuation of the notorious Al-Hol camp, officials confirmed.
The camp in Hasakeh province was long the largest facility housing relatives of suspected Islamic State group fighters.
A government-appointed official, Fadi al-Qassem, stated the camp “will be fully evacuated within a week, and nobody will remain”. He cited a lack of basic living conditions as the reason for the urgent move to camps in Aleppo province.
The evacuation started with vehicles already departing for the new location in Akhtarin. A government source, speaking anonymously, confirmed the operation is being handled by the emergencies and disaster management ministry.
This follows the Syrian government’s takeover of the camp from Kurdish administrators last month. Kurdish forces ceded control as Damascus extended its authority across northeast Syria.
Thousands of family members of foreign jihadists have already left Al-Hol for unknown destinations since the handover. The camp once held around 24,000 people from Syria, Iraq, and over 40 other nationalities.
The United Nations refugee agency has noted a “significant decrease” in residents recently. UNHCR spokesperson Celine Schmitt said the government requested support for the relocated population in Akhtarin.
Schmitt stressed the importance of identifying foreign nationals who have left “so that appropriate repatriation processes can be pursued”. Most countries have been reluctant to repatriate their citizens from such camps.
Kurdish authorities still run the separate Roj camp, housing about 2,200 relatives of foreign fighters. Recent attempted releases, like that of 34 Australians, have faced coordination issues with Damascus.
The camp closures coincide with a major transfer of IS suspects from Kurdish-run prisons in Syria to Iraq. Human Rights Watch has warned the roughly 5,700 transferred detainees face serious risks.
The Sun Malaysia
