UN hands over management of “Al-Hol” camp in Syria to Damascus authorities amid US plan to return jihadist activists to Iraq
The United Nations has announced that it will hand over the management of the “Al-Hol” camp in northeastern Syria, which houses thousands of people suspected of links to the “Islamic State” (ISIS), to the Syrian government authorities.
This step comes after the Kurdish security forces, known as the Kurdish Military Council, which managed the camp, withdrew in the face of the Syrian government forces’ advance, leading to an outbreak of unrest that forced aid organizations to suspend their operations.
It was reported that residents crowded the camp’s outer corridors in a frantic attempt to flee, leading to confusion and looting. The recently reached ceasefire granted control of most areas of northeastern Syria to Damascus, ending years of Kurdish autonomy in the region.
In a speech broadcast before the UN Security Council on Thursday, UN official Edem Wosornu explained that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) “has assumed responsibility for managing the camp” in Al-Hol and is working with Syrian authorities to reactivate humanitarian access. The official noted that Syrian forces have established a security corridor around the camp.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric warned that conditions inside the camp remain “vague and complex” and that humanitarian operations are still suspended following the hostilities.
Meanwhile, the United States launched parallel efforts to remove low-risk prisoners from the region entirely. US Central Command said on Wednesday that it had begun transferring up to 7,000 ISIS suspects from prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq, confirming that 150 prisoners have already been moved to a “secure location” across the border.
Iraqi authorities stated that all transferred prisoners will be prosecuted under Iraqi law.
“This is a measure aimed at protecting regional and international security from imminent threat. However, we emphasize that this issue should not be left to become a long-term strategic burden falling on Iraq alone,” said the Iraqi diplomatic representative to the UN, Mohammed Sahab Majeed Marzouk.
The Syrian government welcomed the US transfer of prisoners outside Syrian territory and expressed its readiness to assist, according to the Syrian Ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Oulabi.
Human rights organizations warned that these transfers could expose prisoners to grave violations. The charity “Reprieve” added that it estimates up to ten British men could be among those transferred, in addition to detained children, and urged the British government to intervene urgently. It noted that between 55 and 60 British citizens, mostly children, remain detained in camps and prisons in the region.
“The transferred prisoners will face torture and the death penalty, without being given any potential chance to defend themselves against the charges brought against them,” Catherine Cornett, deputy executive director of Reprieve, told British radio.
The Kurdish Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), the United States, and the United Nations have repeatedly called for the repatriation of foreign ISIS suspects and their families from northeastern Syria, citing political instability and difficult conditions in prisons and camps, but many countries have refused to accept them.
United News Network – UNN Arabic
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