The Syrian army has formally declared the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria a closed security zone, marking a significant shift in how one of the region’s most sensitive detention sites is being managed as regional and international attention intensifies around security and humanitarian conditions.
Syrian Army Security Measures at Al-Hol Camp in Hasakah Province
According to a statement issued by Syria’s army on Friday and reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), access to the Al-Hol camp has been restricted after the military assumed control following the withdrawal of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces earlier this month. The army described the camp as a closed security zone, a designation that a military source told AFP was intended to strengthen security controls and preserve internal order. Situated in the desert of Hasakah province, Al-Hol is the largest camp housing suspected relatives of Daesh fighters and currently shelters around 24,000 people, primarily women and children, including approximately 6,200 foreign nationals. The security move followed reports from former humanitarian staff, cited by AFP, who said that some residents fled during a brief security vacuum that emerged between the SDF withdrawal and the arrival of Syrian government forces, with additional reports in recent days indicating further attempted escapes.
Humanitarian Conditions and International Response to Al-Hol Camp Closure
The tightening of security has coincided with growing humanitarian alarm. Save the Children warned on Friday that conditions inside Al-Hol were rapidly deteriorating as essential supplies such as food, water, and medicines reached critically low levels, a situation exacerbated after most humanitarian organizations withdrew when Syrian government forces took control, leaving only limited aid entering the camp. Security concerns have also been amplified by messaging from Daesh itself; in its official Al-Naba publication, monitored and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, the group urged supporters to seek the release of women detained at Al-Hol. The camp’s existence is rooted in the aftermath of Daesh’s territorial defeat in Syria five years ago, when the US-backed SDF detained thousands of suspected militants and tens of thousands of relatives. Separately, following advances by Syrian government forces against Kurdish positions, Washington stated that it planned to transfer about 7,000 suspected Daesh fighters, previously held by Syrian Kurdish forces, to Iraq, underscoring the continuing regional and international ramifications of Syria’s evolving security landscape.