DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A now-closed camp that housed thousands of people with suspected links to the Islamic State group in northeast Syria has witnessed “mass escape” in the weeks since government forces took control of it, with at least 133 breaches discovered, a Syrian official said Wednesday.
The escapes during clashes between Syrian forces and Kurdish fighters who controlled the camp have raised security concerns in a region where memories of IS running rampant for years remain fresh.
It was not immediately clear how many people in all have escaped from al-Hol camp since Syrian government forces captured it on Jan. 21. Most escaped in the clashes with the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. The fighting stopped after a ceasefire was reached last month.
“We observed cases of mass escape resulting from the opening of internal berms and checkpoints of the camp,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba said, adding that the breaches were recorded along a 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) section of the perimeter.
Al-Baba told reporters that al-Hol, near the border with Iraq, previously had about 23,500 residents, with about 70% of them children, women and older people. The vast majority were Syrians and Iraqis, but he said 6,500 people from 44 other nationalities were also there.
Syrian officials earlier said the decision to empty al-Hol camp was made because of its remote location in the desert and close to areas where authorities do not have complete control.
The camp’s residents were not technically prisoners and most have not been accused of crimes, but they had been in de facto detention at the heavily guarded facility for years.
Al-Baba noted that women, children and older people who were in the camp are not criminals “because of their family links, but they need protection and help.” Many are wives or widows of IS fighters and their children.
Al-Baba said Syrian authorities have transferred many residents to another location that is easier to be reached by aid agencies and where children will have proper education and rehabilitation.
Hundreds of residents of al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province have been transferred to the Akhtarin camp in Aleppo province in recent weeks, and others have been repatriated to Iraq.
He added that authorities are committed to detaining people who are proven to have been involved in any crime.
After the defeat of IS in 2019, around 73,000 people were living at al-Hol. The number has since declined, with some countries repatriating their citizens.
Al-Baba said Syria’s foreign ministry is in contact with governments of third-country citizens to discuss what to do with them.
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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.