Official Fadi al-Qassem says all residents have left al-Hol camp, which lengthy housed relations of alleged ISIL (ISIS) members.
Revealed On 22 Feb 2026
Syrian authorities say they’ve totally evacuated and shut down a distant camp that when saved 1000’s of relations of alleged members of the armed group ISIL (ISIS).
The final residents had been despatched out in a convoy Sunday morning, in response to Fadi al-Qassem, the Syrian authorities official overseeing the camp.
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“All Syrian and non-Syrian households had been relocated,” al-Qassem informed Agence France-Presse.
Al-Hol, positioned in a desert area of the northeastern Hasakah province, had lengthy saved big numbers of relations of suspected ISIL fighters.
At its peak in 2019, the camp held some 73,000 individuals. Final month, there have been about 24,000 residents, principally Syrians but in addition Iraqis and greater than 6,000 different foreigners of round 40 nationalities.
Whereas the camp’s residents weren’t technically prisoners and most haven’t been accused of crimes, they’d been held in de facto detention on the closely guarded facility for years.
Final month, Syria’s authorities took management of the camp from Kurdish authorities, as Damascus prolonged its attain throughout northeastern Syria.
Since then, 1000’s of its detainees, together with relations of suspected ISIL members, have left for unknown locations. Lots of have been despatched to the Akhtarin camp in Aleppo province, whereas others have been repatriated to Iraq.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a conflict monitor based mostly in the UK, reported an unspecified variety of residents “left the camp individually, with out ready for the organised convoys”. Sources on the bottom informed Al Jazeera many Syrian nationals left al-Hol for his or her hometowns, whereas lots of the foreigners travelled west to authorities strongholds of Idlib or Aleppo governorates.
Al-Qassem stated residents who’ve been relocated are kids and ladies who will “want assist for his or her reintegration”.
The way forward for the smaller Roj camp in northeastern Syria, which additionally homes relations of alleged ISIL members however stays beneath the management of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), stays to be seen.
Most of its inhabitants are foreigners whose house international locations have largely refused to obtain them.
Syrian authorities turned again buses carrying 34 Australian ladies and youngsters on February 16 after they left the Roj camp, headed towards Damascus with plans to journey on to Australia. Australian authorities later stated they wouldn’t repatriate the households.
“We now have no sympathy, frankly, for individuals who travelled abroad in an effort to take part in what was an try to determine a caliphate to undermine and destroy our lifestyle,” stated Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, explaining his nation’s stance.
Whereas it’s “unlucky” that kids have been affected, Australia is “not offering any assist”, Albanese added.
