Risk of ISIS detainee breakouts in Syria ‘of paramount concern’ for EU

Two former employees at the al-Hol desert camp said on Friday that some of its residents had escaped during an hours-long security vacuum.

Brussels

The EU said on Friday that alleged breakouts by detained foreign fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria were of “paramount concern,” and it was monitoring the transfer of prisoners to Iraq.

“The recent alleged breakouts of Daesh (ISIS) detainees amidst the clashes is of paramount concern,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said, referring to fighting between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces who had previously secured the prisoners.

“We closely monitor the situation, including the transfer of remaining fighters detained, including foreign terrorist fighters to Iraq,” Anouni said.

The EU expression of concern comes as poor security at a camp in Syria housing thousands of suspected relatives of ISIS extremists has prevented UN agency staff from entering, days after Kurdish forces withdrew and the army deployed at the site.

Two former employees at the al-Hol desert camp said on Friday that some of its residents had escaped during an hours-long security vacuum.

Thousands of suspected jihadists and their families, including foreigners, have been held in prisons and camps in northeast Syria since 2019, when the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defeated ISIS with the support of a US-led coalition.

This year, the SDF had to relinquish to Syrian government control swathes of territory they had seized during their fight against ISIS, and on Tuesday withdrew from al-Hol.

In Raqa province, Kurdish forces who formerly controlled a prison housing ISIS detainees were bussed out on Friday under a deal with the government, as a four-day truce neared expiry.

The United Nations said on Thursday it was taking management responsibility for vast camps in Syria housing tens of thousands of women and children associated with Islamic State, after the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces who guarded them for years.

Celine Schmitt, the UN refugee agency’s spokeswoman in Syria, said that “UNHCR was able to reach al-Hol for the past three days but has not yet been able to enter inside the camp due to the volatile security situation.”

“UNHCR is returning to al-Hol today, with the hope of resuming the bread delivery that had stopped for the past three days,” she said.

A former employee of a local humanitarian organisation that operated in al-Hol said on condition of anonymity that most associations withdrew on Tuesday “due to the deteriorating security situation.”

Some camp residents fled during the “security vacuum” between when the SDF withdrew and the army took control, they said, without providing a number.

A former employee at another organisation working there said “escapes were reported, but the exact number is unknown.”

“The camp is fenced, but without security, anyone can easily cross it and flee,” they said, also requesting anonymity.

Both ex-employees said camp residents torched centres belonging to aid organisations operating in the camp, where humanitarian conditions are dire.

Before the turmoil, the camp housed some 23,000 people, mostly Syrians but also including around 2,200 Iraqis and 6,200 other foreign women and children of various nationalities.

Roj, a smaller camp in the northeast still under Kurdish control, holds some 2,300 people, mostly foreigners.

The Kurds and the United States have repeatedly urged countries to repatriate their citizens but foreign governments have generally allowed home only a trickle.

In the meanwhile, it was revealed on Friday that Europeans were among 150 senior ISIS group detainees transferred from Syria to Iraq earlier this week as part of a US operation.

The extremist group, which the US military transferred to Iraq on Wednesday, were “all leaders of the Islamic State group, and some of the most notorious criminals,” and included “Europeans, Asians, Arabs and Iraqis,” one security official said.

Another security source said the group included “85 Iraqis and 65 others of various nationalities, including Europeans, Sudanese, Somalis and people from the Caucasus region.”

He added that they “all participated in ISIS operations in Iraq,” including the 2014 offensive that saw the jihadist group seize large areas of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

“They are all at the level of emirs,” the official added.

They are now held at a prison in Baghdad.

The group was the first batch of 7,000 ISIS suspects, previously held by Syrian Kurdish fighters, that the US military said it will transfer to prisons in Iraq 

Source: https://thearabweekly.com/risk-isis-detainee-breakouts-syria-paramount-concern-eu