What loss of US aid might mean for Daesh detainee camps in northeast Syria

Special What loss of US aid might mean for Daesh detainee camps in northeast Syria
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The US has helped run Daesh prisons in northeastern Syria, but now aid cuts could weaken control, leading to escapes. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 16 March 2025
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What loss of US aid might mean for Daesh detainee camps in northeast Syria

What loss of US aid might mean for Daesh detainee camps in northeast Syria
  • US aid has been critical for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces holding Daesh detainees in northeast Syria
  • Without sustained international support and repatriation efforts, Daesh camps could become a security threat

LONDON: Camps and prisons housing Daesh-linked detainees in the northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic have become a ticking time bomb, amid the power vacuum created by the collapse of the Assad regime and cuts to aid from the US.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which helped the US defeat Daesh in 2019, has since then been overseeing Ghuwayran prison, Al-Hol camp and Al-Roj camp, which hold about 56,000 Daesh fighters, their wives and their children.




Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) deploy around Ghwayran prison in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on January 25, 2022, which was taken over by Daesh fighters days earlier. (AFP)

US assistance has been critical in efforts to secure the camps, which are widely considered to be breeding grounds for extremism and a regional security concern. But last month, Washington told the UN Security Council its support “cannot last forever.”

Dorothy Shea, the acting US ambassador to the UN, said: “The US has shouldered too much of this burden for too long. Ultimately, the camps cannot remain a direct US financial responsibility.”

Without a replacement for American aid, the resources of the SDF-affiliated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria risk being stretched thin, leaving the camps and prisons vulnerable to revolt or mass escape attempts.

“If US financial assistance is cut without a replacement, it will create significant challenges,” Polat Can, a researcher in international relations and Middle Eastern security, told Arab News.




Ambassador Dorothy Shea. (AFP)

Even with US support, the camps and prisons had been starved of sufficient funding and manpower.

“External financial support has never fully covered the costs of maintaining prison security, managing detainees and sustaining camp residents,” said Can.

Other foreign donors have helped support the maintenance of camps and prisons but the US remains the largest contributor.

In 2021, the UK provided $20 million to expand a prison in Hasakah, according to the Iraq-based Rudaw news network. Meanwhile, the US spent the much larger sum of $155 million in 2022 alone to train, equip and pay the personnel guarding detainees.

The Syrian National Army offensive that began on Dec. 8 — which has displaced tens of thousands of civilians, many of them ethnic Kurds, from the Shebha region — has placed further strain on the SDF.

The Syrian National Army is backed by Turkiye, apparently as a bulwark against the perceived threat posed by Kurdish militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which recently declared a ceasefire in its decades-old conflict with Ankara.

Washington-based Kurdish affairs analyst Mutlu Civiroglu told Arab News that the SDF has redeployed about half of its personnel that was guarding the prisons to “defend the region from Turkish attacks.”




Attacks by Turkish troops in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province in the past few years had forced the Kurdish-led SDF to redeploy about half of its personnel that was guarding the prisons. (AFP file)

These developments have made it increasingly difficult for the SDF to contain the threat of a potential Daesh resurgence. As recently as November, a Daesh operative reportedly infiltrated Al-Hol camp and helped fighters to escape.

“The region’s resources are limited, and without external funding the ability to maintain security at these facilities will be increasingly strained,” Can said.

“In the worst-case scenario, this could lead to security vulnerabilities that Daesh cells may attempt to exploit, particularly as the group remains active in the Syrian desert and continues efforts to infiltrate” northeastern areas controlled by the autonomous administration.




Daesh inmates in SDF-run prisons in northern Syria are packed in overcrowded cells. (AFP file photo)




Daesh inmates in SDF-run prisons in northern Syria are packed in overcrowded cells. (AFP file photo)

The SDF has warned in recent months that the Daesh threat is greater than ever, citing the presence of active sleeper cells in Al-Hol camp and concerns about detainees escaping from Ghuwayran prison.

These fears have intensified since US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw US troops from northeastern Syria. “Syria is its own mess,” he said in late January. “They got enough messes over there. They don’t need us involved in every one.”

The SDF has also warned that Daesh is attempting to infiltrate the eastern Deir ez-Zor province from the western bank of the Euphrates River. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has recorded at least 37 Daesh operations in the province since the start of the year, including armed attacks and bombings targeting security forces in areas controlled by the autonomous administration




Fears have intensified since US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw US troops from northeastern Syria. (AFP file photo)

Until Dec. 11, Deir ez-Zor was under SDF control. However, after a coalition led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham ousted the Assad regime on Dec. 8, it seized the oil-rich eastern city. The SDF remains a presence in parts of the countryside.

In a historic move on March 10, the SDF’s commander-in-chief, Mazloum Abdi, and Syria’s new president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, signed a deal to integrate SDF-controlled civilian and military institutions with the new Damascus administration.

The agreement, signed as Al-Sharaa faced international pressure over the killing of Alawites by government-linked militias in western Syria, could ease the pressure on the SDF, particularly by securing a nationwide ceasefire.

However, the accord, which is set to be implemented by the end of this year, is unlikely to bring any immediate changes to the situation in the Daesh camps and prisons, said Can.




Until now, at least 42,000 women and children from 110 countries remain in overcrowded, squalid conditions in Al-Hol and Al-Roj, according to the UN. (AFP file)

“The issue of detainees — both militants in prisons and their families in camps — remains a major financial, logistical and security challenge in northeastern Syria,” he added.

The US aid freeze will not only affect prison management but also many humanitarian and civilian infrastructure projects, which had long eased some of the financial pressure on the autonomous administration.

Civiroglu said the suspension of aid from the US could create “further uncertainty, especially for initiatives related to displaced persons, refugees, rehabilitation and health services.”

He added: “Syria has long been under siege, embargo and civil war, and Rojava — Kurdish Syria — has been affected even worse. On one side, there’s the opposition group; on the other, the Turkish border, which stretches 910 kilometers and has been closed for years.”




People take part in a funeral in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on February, 4, 2022, for Syrian Democratic Forces fighters killed in clashes during a jailbreak attempt by the Daesh group at the Ghwayran prison. (AFP file)

He warned that projects in northeastern Syria established by the US Agency for International Development “have been negatively affected, with many halted.” But Washington’s aid freeze will impact Syria as a whole, he added.

USAID was one of the first targets of the Department of Government Efficiency, which was established by the Trump administration to root out what it views as waste and fraud in the federal bureaucracy.

As a result, the organization and all of its programs essentially have been shut down, creating a massive black hole in the international humanitarian aid budget, with major consequences for fragile states such as Syria.

The Syrian economy is reeling after 14 years of civil war and sanctions. The interim government said the country owes between $20 billion and $23 billion in external debt, a figure that far exceeds its 2023 gross domestic product of $17.5 billion, according to the World Bank.

After the civil war broke out in 2011, Daesh exploited the chaos to expand, attracting tens of thousands of fighters from around the globe. By 2014, the group had conquered an area about the size of Great Britain, spanning Iraq and Syria, where it declared a caliphate.




This aerial picture taken on January 27, 2024 shows a view of al-Hol camp in Syria's northeastern Al-Hasakah Governorate. The al-Hol camp is the largest of two in northeastern Syria holding the families of Daesh fighters. (AFP)

However, US-led coalition efforts, an SDF ground offensive, and Russian airstrikes wore the group down until its eventual territorial defeat in Baghuz, eastern Syria, in March 2019.

After Daesh’s collapse, foreign fighters and their families were detained. Even now, at least 42,000 women and children — about 80 percent of all detainees — from 110 countries remain in overcrowded, squalid conditions in Al-Hol and Al-Roj, according to the UN.

Rights groups have consistently urged countries to repatriate their nationals who are detained in the camps. New York-based Human Rights Watch has said the continuing detention of these foreign nationals is “unlawful,” noting that they are held under “life-threatening conditions.”

Civiroglu said that “despite the US push and the SDF’s appeal to the international community, there has been little progress in that regard.”

Since 2017, Iraq has repatriated more than 17,796 of its nationals from Syria, according to the Rojava Information Center, but Western countries remain reluctant to do the same.

“The responsibility for these detainees extends beyond the region, as it is an international issue that should involve the UN, the UN Security Council, the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh, the US, and the governments of the detainees’ home countries,” said Can.




Roj, one of two Kurdish-run displacement camps housing foreign family members of suspected Daesh fighters, is smaller and better guarded than its overcrowded counterpart Al-Hol, which has been rocked by assassinations and breakout attempts in recent months. ( AFP)

Harout Ekmanian, an international lawyer at Foley Hoag in New York, also believes that during this critical transitional period in Syria, countries with citizens in the camps have an obligation to repatriate them and ease the pressure on local authorities.

“States with citizens in these camps should take responsibility by facilitating the repatriation of their nationals, providing consular assistance, and ensuring that they are either prosecuted in accordance with fair trial standards or rehabilitated and reintegrated,” he told Arab News.

“With the collapse of the Syrian regime, the restoration of diplomatic channels has become more feasible, leaving no justifiable reason for countries in Europe and beyond to continue delaying the repatriation of their citizens and their families.

“This should not be seen as a favor or charity for Syria, but rather an international obligation for all states with citizens in these camps.”

UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2396 explicitly call on states to prosecute, rehabilitate or reintegrate foreign terrorist fighters, underscoring the responsibility of countries to take action on this matter.

“These prisons house individuals responsible for some of the most egregious international crimes, including the Yazidi Genocide between 2014 and 2017,” said Ekmanian.




Children of Daesh inmates in northern Syria live in overcrowded condition. (AFP file)

“Syria is not adequately equipped to manage the accountability mechanisms and legal procedures required for such a large number of Daesh members. Therefore, states must ensure criminal accountability via their national courts for those responsible for these crimes, as part of their repatriation and reintegration efforts.

“Additionally, it would be ideal for Syria to collaborate with international partners to develop the necessary capabilities and mechanisms to prosecute Daesh members held in these camps. This issue is also closely tied to the broader need for transitional justice in Syria.”

Echoing similar concerns, Can, the Middle East security expert, said that while local authorities in northeastern Syria have engaged with international actors to seek long-term solutions, including efforts to repatriate foreign detainees, “many governments remain reluctant to take responsibility for their citizens.”

He added: “At this stage, there is no fully sufficient alternative plan that could compensate for the loss of international support. So, any major funding gap could deepen existing security risks and create further instability.

“Given the global implications of this issue, sustained international attention and responsibility-sharing are critical.”


 


UK demands transparent probe of Israel strike on Gaza UN building

UK demands transparent probe of Israel strike on Gaza UN building
Updated 20 March 2025
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UK demands transparent probe of Israel strike on Gaza UN building

UK demands transparent probe of Israel strike on Gaza UN building
  • “Appalled a UN compound in Gaza was hit this morning,” Lammy wrote on X

LONDON: Britain’s foreign minister David Lammy on Wednesday called for a transparent investigation into an Israeli air strike on a UN building in Gaza.
“Appalled a UN compound in Gaza was hit this morning,” Lammy wrote on X. “This incident must be investigated transparently and those responsible held to account.”


Thousands join anti-government rally in Jerusalem

Thousands join anti-government rally in Jerusalem
Updated 19 March 2025
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Thousands join anti-government rally in Jerusalem

Thousands join anti-government rally in Jerusalem
  • Relatives of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza joined the rally outside the parliament in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM: Thousands of protesters massed in Jerusalem on Wednesday, chanting slogans against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who they accuse of undermining democracy and resuming Gaza strikes without regard for hostages.
Protesters shouted “You are the head, and you’re to blame” as well as “The blood is on your hands” at the demonstration near parliament, the largest to take place in Jerusalem for months.
The demonstration was organized by anti-Netanyahu opposition groups protesting the premier’s move to sack Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
Following Netanyahu’s announcement to dismiss Bar, which threatened to trigger political crisis, Israel launched a wave of overnight strikes on Gaza, by far the deadliest since the start of a fragile ceasefire in January.
Relatives of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza joined the rally outside the parliament in Jerusalem.
“We hope all people from Israel will join this movement and we will not stop until we restore democracy and freedom for the hostages,” said Zeev Berar, 68, from Tel Aviv.
“At this rate we won’t have a country left, not a democratic one. It will be a dictatorship,” student Roni Sharon, 18, told AFP.
Some in the crowd brandished banners reading: “We are all hostages.”
Relatives of the hostages in the Gaza Strip have said the decision to resume strikes could “sacrifice” their loved ones.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the unprecedented October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
The demonstrators in Jerusalem also accuse Netanyahu of using the war against Hamas to distract from domestic political concerns.
The prime minister has so far refused to set up a national commission of inquiry into Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, while his bid to dismiss Bar threatened to plunge Israel back into deep political crisis.
Netanyahu’s government recently also moved to oust Israel’s attorney general and government judiciary adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, a fierce defendant of the judiciary’s independence.
A 2023 judicial reform project aimed at curbing the supreme court’s powers fractured the country and sparked major protests — before coming to an abrupt halt with Hamas’s October 7 attack.
“The last two years have been a nightmare for us,” said Yael Baron, 55, from the city of Modiin.
“I feel as though we are in the 99th minute and time is running out to save the country, the oxygen is running out for us, like democracy is running out.”


Hostages’ kin are terrified they won’t return after Israel resumes fighting

Hostages’ kin are terrified they won’t return after Israel resumes fighting
Updated 19 March 2025
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Hostages’ kin are terrified they won’t return after Israel resumes fighting

Hostages’ kin are terrified they won’t return after Israel resumes fighting
  • Nearly 60 families have relatives still held in Gaza
  • About two dozen of them are believed to be alive

TEL AVIV: When a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began two months ago, Herut Nimrodi knew it would take time before her son was released from captivity in Gaza. The 20-year-old soldier was meant to be part of the second phase of the deal winding down the war.

But with Israel’s surprise bombardment of Gaza, she fears he might not come home at all.

“I really wanted to believe that there is still a chance to reach a second stage without renewing this war. But it feels like my building of hope has collapsed, and I have no idea what to do next,” Nimrodi said.

Nearly 60 families have relatives still held in Gaza. About two dozen hostages are believed to be alive.

During the ceasefire’s first phase, which began in January, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. But since that phase ended early this month, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward.

Israel’s renewed airstrikes threaten to end the fragile deal.

Nimrodi’s son, Tamir, was abducted from his army base when Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. She’s had no sign of life. He hasn’t been declared dead by Israel.

“It’s so sad that this is the only solution that they could find,” she said, lamenting the government’s decision.

The strikes have Tuesday killed hundreds and shattered a relative calm — along with hopes of ending the war that has killed over 48,000 Palestinians.

The return to fighting could deepen the painful debate in Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages.

Netanyahu and his hard-line governing partners believe renewing the war will put pressure on Hamas to free them and move Israel closer to its goal of destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

But most hostage families, and large parts of the Israeli public, believe such goals are unrealistic. They say time is running out, particularly after the recent releases of emaciated-looking hostages who later described harsh conditions in captivity.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of upending the ceasefire and exposing the hostages “to an unknown fate.”

Families of hostages called on supporters to protest with them outside Israel’s parliament.

Some families who already know their relatives in Gaza are dead called the government’s decision unacceptable.

“This is not only a disaster in every way, shape or form on how the hostages keep suffering, being chained to walls, starved, abused, but also the death toll that keeps rising on the Gazan side,” Udi Goren said.

His cousin Tal Haimi was killed on Oct. 7 and his body was taken into Gaza. Goren said the international community must pressure Hamas, Israel and the mediators — the US, Egypt and Qatar — to end the war.

“Returning to fighting? Did you listen to a word of what we, the returnees released in the last deal, have been saying to you?” former hostage Omer Wenkert wrote on Instagram.

Romi Gonen, among the first hostages to be freed in the ceasefire’s first phase, said she would never forget what it felt like in captivity to hear the bombs after previous ceasefire talks collapsed and realize she wouldn’t be freed any time soon.

“I beg you, the people of Israel, we must continue to fight for them,” she said on Instagram.

Sylvia Cunio, whose two sons are held hostage, accused Israel’s leaders of not having a heart.

“It isn’t right to continue the fighting. I want my children back home already. If he wants to kill me, the prime minister, let him do that already because I won’t get through this,” she said on local radio.

Nimrodi said she’s worried the airstrikes might not only harm her son and the other hostages but also make their living conditions worse.

The last time she saw Tamir, he was a funny teenager who rode horses and loved learning about geology and astronomy, she said. The two had a similar humor and used to talk about everything.

While she’s terrified of what’s to come, she said she won’t stop fighting to see him again.

“Please, keep strong, survive,” she said, addressing him. “So there’s a chance for us to meet once more.”


Iran celebrates ancient fire festival ahead of Persian New Year

Iran celebrates ancient fire festival ahead of Persian New Year
Updated 19 March 2025
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Iran celebrates ancient fire festival ahead of Persian New Year

Iran celebrates ancient fire festival ahead of Persian New Year
  • To celebrate, people light bonfires, set off fireworks and send wish lanterns floating off into the night sky

TEHRAN: Iran’s fire festival offers a great opportunity to show the world what life looks like in the country.

Known as “Chaharshanbe Souri” in Farsi, the festival comes in the hours just before the Wednesday before Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year.

To celebrate, people light bonfires, set off fireworks and send wish lanterns floating off into the night sky. 

Others jump over and around fires, chanting “My yellow is yours, your red is mine,” invoking the replacement of ills with warmth and energy.

The fire festival also features an Iranian version of trick-or-treating, with people going door to door and being given a holiday mix of nuts and berries, as well as buckets of water. It’s not necessarily an easy assignment though. 

Here in Iran, some people remain sensitive about having their photograph taken, particularly women who aren’t wearing Iran’s mandatory headscarf.

The joy sometimes overcomes safety concerns as smoke fills the air and fireworks explode at random overhead. There are injuries every year and sometimes deaths. Being careful is necessary as a piece of a burning firecracker might injure one in a crowd. 

Nowruz marks the start of spring. Soon, leaves will sprout again.


US says ‘bridge proposal’ on table for Gaza ceasefire but window ‘closing fast’

US says ‘bridge proposal’ on table for Gaza ceasefire but window ‘closing fast’
Updated 19 March 2025
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US says ‘bridge proposal’ on table for Gaza ceasefire but window ‘closing fast’

US says ‘bridge proposal’ on table for Gaza ceasefire but window ‘closing fast’
  • A State Department spokesperson said the proposal would also “see the release of five live hostages, including American Edan Alexander”
  • “The opportunity is still there, but it’s closing fast“

WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Wednesday there was still a bridge proposal that would extend the ceasefire” in Gaza but the opportunity for it was “closing fast.”
A State Department spokesperson said the proposal would also “see the release of five live hostages, including American Edan Alexander. It would also see the release of a substantial number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.”
“The opportunity is still there, but it’s closing fast.”
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces have resumed ground operations in Gaza as a second day of airstrikes killed at least 48 Palestinians, according to local health workers. A day earlier, more than 400 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.
This shattered nearly two months of relative calm since a ceasefire went into effect between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza.
The State Department spokesperson said the proposal was “compelling” and that Washington stood with Israel.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli allies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed over 49,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also triggering accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. The assault has internally displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population and caused a hunger crisis.