Scuffles with UN staff break out at Syria’s Al-Hol camp as Iraq prepares to complete IS detainee transfer

Scuffles broke out on Wednesday at the notorious Al-Hol camp in Syria’s Al-Hasakeh province as some of the camp’s remaining residents attacked UN staff, leading the body and several other international organisations to suspend operations at the facility.

The camp is known for its poor humanitarian conditions and for housing the families of Islamic State group militants and other civilians. After the collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) this year, security of the camp has been replaced Syria government forces.

Syrian residents of the camp have previously accused SDF guards of abusive practices, including the beating of women and children.

Some 24,000 people lived there, mostly women and children, including around 15,000 Syrians, several thousand Iraqis and more than 6,000 other foreigners from around 40 nationalities.

However, AFP reported on Thursday that most of the foreigners had now left, leaving only around 20 families in the so-called foreigners’ annex.

There were also reports that some of the foreign families had gone to Idlib province in Syria, with a source telling AFP that there were no more than 20 families now left in this area, populated mostly by foreigners.

The camp is still suffering from ongoing humanitarian issues, with a camp official telling The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a group of camp residents gathered in front of the main gate and threw stones at a UN meeting centre, prompting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other UN teams to evacuate their staff from the site.

The official added that employees of international organisations received threats that their vehicles would be burned if they did not leave the camp. Some were also prevented from entering by protesters, leading to a temporary suspension of activities to ensure staff safety.

He added that all employees had left in a convoy of about 40 vehicles, with no injuries reported.

UNHCR said it would stop operations there but water distribution would continue through UNICEF, to stop the humanitarian situation inside the camp from deteriorating further.

Iraq to complete transfer of IS fighters from Syria

In a related development, the Iraqi government announced that it had nearly completed the transfer of thousands of Islamic State group detainees from Syria to facilities in Iraq.

Iraqi Justice Minister Khaled Shwani said that procedures to transfer the final group of alleged IS members from Syria to Iraqi territory would be completed on Thursday.

There are around 60 nationalities among the transferees, although the vast majority are Syrian, with their cases now being examined by the First Karkh Investigative Court in Baghdad, which specialises in terrorism cases.

Shwani added that Iraq will not return any detainee to their home country before completing judicial procedures and issuing final rulings against them.

Most of the territory once held by the SDF in Syria, including the Al-Hol camp was taken over by government forces in an offensive this month, following the breakdown of a March 2025 integration agreement. SDF guards left the camp on 20 January with a ceasefire in place.

Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of the Office of Displaced Persons and Refugee Affairs in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the SDF-affiliated body is no longer responsible for the camp.

"We do not know what is happening inside it now or how those who remain there will be removed," he said.

A source from the Syrian government blamed the SDF for the current tense situation, saying they did not consider security at Al-Hol or the safety of the residents once their guards had departed.

Syrian government officials are now carrying out a census of the camp, but Damascus would not confirm if anyone had escaped the camp, with one source saying if anyone had, it was the fault of the SDF, "which withdrew from the site" without a proper handover.