Tens of thousands of IS supporters and their families are trapped in a camp in northeast Syria. But what plans does the new Islamist government have for them? In the Kurdish areas, people are afraid.
As you get closer to the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria's desert, the number of checkpoints increases. Heavily armed fighters from the SDF military alliance led by Kurdish troops meticulously control who goes in and who goes out.
On a fortified hill, Ghani Ahmed monitors the huge area where 40,000 people live in tents. As commander, he is responsible for the security of this camp, which is unique in the world: family members of the terrorist militia of the so-called Islamic State are imprisoned in al-Hol.
More than 40,000 former IS terrorists and their family members live in the al-Hol camp.
“Learn the ideology of the jihadists”
Security is currently what worries Ghani Ahmed the most: “The children who grow up here learn the ideology of the jihadists. Therefore, they represent a very big danger – for Europe and the world.” Al-Hol is a ticking time bomb, especially now that Islamists have taken power in Damascus.
Inmates can move freely in the camp. Almost all women are fully veiled with a niqab. Also Fatma Serhan, who comes from Iraq and whose son has been in a prison outside al-Hol for a year and a half. “There are diseases there, it's dirty, everyone is starving. Why don't they just lock me up there? They say he's a terrorist.”
Fought for IS until the end
Journalists are not allowed to visit such a high-security prison. But the Kurdish authorities bring an imprisoned German-Moroccan who went to fight in the Syrian civil war in 2012 for an interview.
Mohammed el-Misrouli admits to being a member of IS after emigrating to Germany from Morocco. “I came to Bochum as a student and was initially enrolled in electrical engineering and information technology,” he says.
He lived in Germany for eleven years, married a German woman and received a German passport. When the civil war broke out in Syria in 2012, he first traveled to the Idlib region, then later to what was then the IS “caliphate” and married a Syrian woman there, with whom he had children.
The guards say that el-Misrouli was one of the last IS fighters to lay down his arms in the city of Baruz. They suspect he played a significant role for IS in this region.
“I bear no responsibility”
Today, el-Misrouli is purified and advocates peaceful coexistence for all religions. “Germany is my country, I respect it and want to return there,” he explains.
When asked how he thinks today about the brutal crimes of IS, which also executed foreign journalists, el-Misrouli answers: “I bear no responsibility for such acts. But every state has its own policy. Even in Germany under Hitler was murdered.”
“Left alone with the jihadists”
Back in al-Hol: In the camp headquarters, leader Jihan Hanan stands in front of a huge map of the camp and points to an area at the bottom right:
The foreigners section is the most extremist. Fully convinced jihadists live there who believe that they will soon be released and the caliphate will return.
There are a total of 6,000 foreign IS supporters from 42 nations there. Including many children who were born in the camp.
Hanan complains that when it comes to the jihadists, the Kurdish-dominated self-government in northeast Syria is being left alone by the international community.
“We asked all countries to help and take back their jihadists. But unfortunately hardly anyone responded. That's why this camp still exists,” says Hanan. The German government has brought back a few jihadists, but not all of them.
Many children were born in the IS camp. According to the camp's guards, children are being deliberately radicalized.
Children should “learn to behead”
Commander Ghani Ahmed observes a strict ideology among the foreigners in al-Hol: “They train their children on toy weapons and have them cut off the heads of animals to learn beheading. They also teach them how to build mines.”
A boy approaches the fence. He says his name is Abdallah and he is Turkmen. The eight-year-old quickly begins to vulgarly insult the guards. IS is better than them. “We will kill you because you are unbelievers. Women must wear veils.”
Nervousness is increasing among the Kurdish guards at the IS camp. They suspect there are plans for an uprising.
Concern about planned uprisings
Nervousness is now increasing among the Kurdish guards. They recently discovered secret weapons depots and tunnels during a raid.
They suspect the inmates are planning an uprising with the help of IS sleeper cells from outside, which the US military says are becoming increasingly active in the desert. Camp manager Hanan says:
The inmates are demanding that we release them because the new Islamist leadership in Damascus is coming soon to free them anyway.
Fear of IS taking power again
The Syrian Kurds were crucial in defeating the IS terrorist regime. Many Kurdish fighters lost their lives in the battle for Kobane in 2018. Therefore, dismissal is out of the question for her.
But the fear of IS taking power again in northeast Syria is great, even for camp director Hanan, who does not wear a veil. “If IS comes back, what will they do to me, what will they do to my daughter?” she asks herself.
