Australia’s ISIS camp dilemma exposes Syria’s growing post SDF chaos

The ISIS detainees were mostly captured in 2019 when ISIS was defeated in its last enclave near the Euphrates River by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

On February 16, reports emerged that two dozen Australians had left a detention camp in eastern Syria with hopes that they would drive to Damascus and then fly to Australia by way of Beirut.

It was not entirely clear why these particular Australians were suddenly in the spotlight.

Up until mid-January, there were tens of thousands of ISIS-like families in two large camps in Syria, as well as several thousand male ISIS prisoners in two dozen detention facilities in the country.

There have now been rapid changes in Syria. The ISIS detainees were mostly captured in 2019 when ISIS was defeated in its last enclave near the Euphrates River by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

When the ISIS “Caliphate” fell to the SDF, there were a large number of ISIS fighters and their families who surrendered. This may have included some 50,000 people, including women and children from some 60 countries.

The women and children mostly ended up at Al-Hol and Roj camps in eastern Syria, and the SDF maintained security at the camps but mostly left families to do as they wished inside them.

ISIS camp uncertainty in Syria leaves Australians stranded

When the SDF began to clash with the Syrian Transitional Government forces in January, the camps suddenly became unsettled.

The SDF began to withdraw, and Damascus sent Interior Ministry forces to try to secure the camps and prisons, but not all the prisons and camps ended up in the hands of the Syrian government. Instead, there was some chaos.

US Central Command scrambled to take the worst ISIS prisoners out of Syria. Around 7,000 were moved to Iraq, including people from some 60 countries. Among those who have been moved, 13 Australians were listed, according to an Arabic document distributed on social media.

By including women and children who remained behind in Syria, the Australians numbers got way higher, moving to more than 30 people.

Thousands of these women and children are Syrians or Arab speakers from neighboring countries. However, some of them are foreigners. These include some children who were kidnapped by their parents and taken to Syria because the parents backed ISIS.

Some children were born over the last decade, as most of the foreigners joined ISIS back in 2014, when ISIS held a significant part of Syria and Iraq and was involved in genocide against the Yazidi minority in the Iraqi state.

There is a suspicion that some of the adult women who joined ISIS are perpetrators of crimes against humanity, such as holding slaves or even killing people. However, most of them have not been investigated.

Iraq is now investigating the thousands that CENTCOM transferred.

Meanwhile, in Syria, chaos still reigns. While thousands of ISIS-linked families appear to have left Al-Hol camp, there are others in Roj camp.

On February 16, those with Australian citizenship or travel documents were permitted to leave the camp and board mini-buses. Everything seemed normal and happy.

One of the visa candidates, wearing large sunglasses, and another with what looked like new red headphones, sat in the little buses. However, it appears that at some point the transfer from areas still run by SDF-linked local security to areas run by the Syrian government, there was a problem with the transfer.

Arab News had shown footage of the 34 Australians, who had also apparently relatives who may have journeyed to meet them.

Levant24, a local media outlet, said the 34 Australians returned to the Roj camp after they were unable to travel to Damascus. “Kurdish forces, who remain in control of the Al-Roj camp, escorted the convoy and relayed the decision ordering the families back,” the report said.

“Australian authorities had reportedly already issued passports to the families, preparing them for travel.” However, the report also said that Australia would not repatriate people from Syria. Authorities also “warned returnees would face the full force of the law.” Levant24 noted that “Director of Al-Roj Camp, Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, urged Australia and other countries to ‘take your citizens,’ warning the situation is becoming more complicated over time.”

Regional media has been focused now on the odyssey of the Australians in Syria.

Al-Arabiya noted that they are stranded. Al-Ain media in the UAE noted that “Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the government would not help any Australians living in a Syrian camp holding families of suspected ISIS terrorists to return home, adding that the government was prepared to prosecute them if they did return.” It also said that “The released Australians, some of whom are children, are expected to travel to Damascus before eventually returning to Australia, despite objections from MPs from both the ruling party and the opposition.”

The story of the Australian women and children is symbolic of the larger problem in Syria. While some experts have expressed concern that women and children are leaving the camps in Syria, many governments also refuse to take their citizens back. This leaves the people in limbo.

Some argue that these extremists might now be a threat or seek to radicalize others. By keeping them in Syria, many countries are passing the buck and, in essence, dumping the problem on the new Syrian government.

Some have also argued that Syria isn’t secure enough to hold the male prisoners, which is why they were brought to Iraq. This appears to be a catch-22 where Damascus is perceived as not reliable to hold ISIS members, but where Damascus is also told that ISIS members can’t go back to their countries.

This was the same catch-22 the SDF found itself in back in 2019 when ISIS members surrendered. The excuse for keeping them in eastern Syria was that countries argued the SDF was not a “government” and they couldn’t repatriate the people. Damascus is now widely recognized, yet the 90-nation anti-ISIS coalition has no clear process to deal with the ISIS members.