FactualSince 2020, international NGOs present in the Al-Hol camp have warned of the increase in criminal acts, including 117 murders.
In the main section of Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, where more than 40,000 Iraqi refugees and some 20,000 displaced Syrians from the war against the Islamic State (IS) are crowded, everyone has heard of the gunshot assassination, on August 8, of one of the members of the Iraqi Council, responsible for coordination with the Kurdish prison administration, and of three men with him, in broad daylight, in the main alley of the market. “Ah, but every day there are murders in the camp”, exclaim those we question. When asked who is behind this assassination, whether it is a matter of personal rivalries or the work of a cell of the jihadist group, still active in the camp, the voices begin to whisper.
“It’s a forest of monsters. We do not sleep, we are all afraid of assassinations, whether it is people who have gotten themselves into trouble or those who have no problem ”, says a Syrian from Homs. “My father was killed five months ago, he also worked in the Iraqi Council. They shot him dead in the middle of the night in the tent. I didn’t see anything, I pretended to sleep so that they wouldn’t kill me ”says an 18-year-old Iraqi from Mosul, begging like the others to be let out of the camp, where the deteriorating security situation is compounded by unsustainable living conditions. A resident of Aleppo, on the other hand, said he was more afraid of the Kurdish security forces than of the IS jihadists.
Since 2020, international NGOs present in the camp have warned of the proliferation of criminal acts – suspect fires of tents, attacks on humanitarian personnel and guards, assassinations with knives, pistols and even beheadings – a result, according to them. , including settling of scores between supporters of ISIS and collaborators of the Kurdish forces. After a series of fatal attacks against some of its local employees, Médecins sans frontières announced in February the temporary suspension of its activities. In a report published at the end of January, UN experts who track down the Islamic State warned of “Cases of radicalization, training, fundraising and incitement to external operations” within the camp.
“Every day there are murders, confirms Mohamed Bachir, in charge of external relations for the Al-Hol camp. Since 2020, there have been 117 murders, initially by stabbing, now by pistol. We do not know who is behind. They want to create chaos in the camp. Once, a member of the internal security of the Asayiches [les forces de sécurité kurdes] was surrounded and shot dead. And there are a lot of acts of sabotage against humanitarian facilities and vehicles. “ The Kurdish official deplores that the United Nations organizations and NGOs have not developed de-radicalization programs within the camp. And the Al-Hol camp, with more than 68,000 residents, has become a sprawling hydra that Kurdish forces can no longer fully control.
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