ICRC president visits al-Hol, slams world failure to repatriate nationals

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) this week, where he urged the international community to work together to find practical solutions for what to do with the thousands of people from around the world living in the camp.

“This is really the place where hope is going to die. It is one of the largest, if not the largest, child protection crisis with which we are confronted today,” said Peter Maurer in video recorded at the camp and published on Friday.

Al-Hol camp has a population of nearly 62,000 people from more than 60 countries, two thirds of them children, mainly family members of Islamic State (ISIS) militants, living in harsh conditions. This year, al-Hol camp has seen a spate of murders. Rojava Information Centre, a local monitor group, told Rudaw English on Monday that 43 people had been killed in 2021. So far in March, 15 people have been murdered, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism and there areas within its perimeter that the guards avoid going to, because of risks to their safety. 

“It is a scandal that the international community is allowing such a place to continue, and that this situation continues, not because of an insurmountable humanitarian problem, but because of political divergences which prevent finding a durable solution for those who have been stranded here in northeast Syria,” he said, calling on countries find practical solutions for all the residents of the camp. 

Maurer's visit coincided with comments from French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who rebuffed calls for ISIS members to face justice in their home countries, saying they should be tried for their crimes in Syria.  

"Our position is clear: the perpetrators of these crimes should be tried on-site when the military situation is made clear, which is not [currently] the case,” said Le Drian on Friday.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday slammed states for failing to repatriate their nationals held in “inhuman or degrading conditions” in northeast Syria, noting France has refused to repatriate a woman with advanced colon cancer from squalid camps.