An official of the Kurdish autonomous administration which manages the al-Hol camp, in northeastern Syria, sounded the alarm on Sunday in a statement to AFP: a ” unprecedented threat against the humanitarians hovers in the camp.
With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh
The warning by Kurdish leader Chaykhamous Ahmed comes days after a Kurdish Red Crescent aid worker was assassinated by two members of the Islamic State group. The alleged murderers entered a medical center under false identities, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
Humanitarians work in Al-Hol under difficult security conditions. This camp run by the Kurdish Autonomous Administration is home to more than 55,000 family members of Islamic State officials and fighters. Most are Iraqis, but there are also thousands of foreigners, including Westerners.
Ninety-one people murdered in 2021
Despite the presence of the Kurdish military police in the camp, the Islamic State group continues to impose its terror there. Last year, 91 people, including two aid workers, were murdered by sleeper cells of the extremist organization.
In an attempt to reduce the strong pressures in al-Hol, the camp administration is trying to depopulate it by gradually releasing Syrian families. This week, 217 people were allowed to return to their villages in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, according to the OSDH.
But there is still a lot to do before pacifying the camp. In the meantime, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have sounded the alarm by saying that the insecurity prevailing in al-Hol will inevitably have an impact on humanitarian action.
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