Infamous al-Hol camp in Syria to be closed

SSU has previously helped families relocate and is supporting the government with the current relocations. According to the SSU, the transfers are aimed at closing the camp. The aim is also to reintegrate those released into society. Government circles said the transfers started on Tuesday. They should be completed within a week.

Hundreds to thousands of people were able to flee

At the beginning of the year, the Syrian interim government launched an offensive in the north and northeast of the country in order to also control the previously Kurdish-run areas of Syria. Before that, al-Hol, the largest camp for relatives of IS members, was under Kurdish control. The camp is not officially a prison, but is often described as such by residents. Voluntary departures were not possible.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, thousands of people were able to flee as the camp was taken over by forces of the transitional government. Some escaped on their own, others were helped to escape by militias allied with the government, said director Rami Abdel-Rahman of the German Press Agency. In recent weeks, relatives of the residents and smugglers are said to have helped people escape. The Observatory also confirmed that the camp should be closed.

Government sources said hundreds of families had “left” the camp after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from there “without coordination.” This created a security vacuum. According to the UN, a significant decline in the number of residents in the camp has been noted in recent weeks.

Camp was considered high risk

After the military victory over IS in 2019, relatives of IS fighters were isolated in camps such as al-Hol for security reasons. People with German citizenship were also housed there.

Al-Hol has been considered high risk for years. Due to its isolation, the camp was considered a breeding ground for the ideology of the Islamic State. According to their own statements, residents lived in a kind of lawless area. IS is said to have continued to exert strong influence on the residents.