By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-06-14

Roj camp in eastern Syria's al-Hasakeh province, where the families of "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) foreign fighters are housed, is the last stop for many families before their repatriation.

Repatriation remains the ultimate goal for non-Syrian camp residents.

Before foreign families can return to their homelands, however, the Kurdish forces that control the camp must ensure they have abandoned the extremist ideology of ISIS.

"Roj camp was established in 2015 in cooperation between the [Kurdish] autonomous administration and a number of humanitarian organizations," Kurdish Red Crescent relief worker Nermin Othman told Al-Fassel.

At the time, Roj was dedicated to housing Syrians and Iraqis displaced by ISIS, and from 2017 onwards, it has sheltered the families of ISIS foreign fighters.

"The camp currently houses 806 families from 62 countries, for a total of 2,600 individuals, more than 60% of whom are children," Othman said.

Some families of foreign fighters were transferred from al-Hol camp to Roj after they renounced ISIS's violent extremist ideology.

"On account of the limited area that Roj camp occupies and its smaller population, attention was given to providing the best possible services to its residents," Othman said.

In each section there are health centers and a hospital supported by international organizations and the Kurdish Red Crescent, she noted, as well as schools, soccer fields with turf and lighting, and playgrounds for children.

Humanitarian organizations take care of the distribution of tents and basic materials such as blankets, clothes and detergent.

The children who take advantage of recreational, sporting and educational opportunities at the camp are those who fare best in the long run, she said.

Lingering issues

Despite the best efforts of the camp's administration and the organizations operating in Roj, many women still hold on to the extremist ideology of ISIS, media and social activist Ammar Saleh told Al-Fassel.

Some remain in contact with ISIS elements outside the camp and engage in acts such as burning tents, "harassing women who abandon terrorist ideology and attempting to intimidate them and discourage them from repenting," he said.

Some hardliners groom children to carry out "surveillance, reconnaissance and sabotage activities and incite them against the camp's administration, its guards, and humanitarian organization workers," Saleh said.

These women also have raised alarm in villages near the camp, as residents fear that ISIS women and the group's so-called "cubs of the caliphate" (radicalized children) could escape and carry out acts of subversion and sabotage, he said.

"They also fear that ISIS elements could attempt to breach the camp to free detainees from it," he added.