Struggle to handle fleeing foreigners from last IS enclave

US-backed Syrian forces warned that they were struggling to cope with an outpouring of foreigners from the Islamic State’s imploding caliphate, urging governments to take responsibility for their citizens.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have moved nearly 5,000 men, women and children from the jihadist redoubt since Wednesday, moving closer to retaking the last sliver of territory under IS control.

“The numbers of foreign fighters and their relatives that we are holding is increasing drastically,” Kurdish foreign affairs official Abdel Karim Omar said.

“Our current infrastructure can’t handle the mass influx.”

Syria’s Kurds have repeatedly called on foreign countries to repatriate their citizens, but most have been reluctant to allow battle-hardened jihadists and their relatives back home due to security concerns.

At the height of its rule, IS imposed its brutal interpretation of Islamic law across territory straddling Syria and Iraq that was roughly the size of Britain. But more than four years after IS declared a cross-border caliphate, the jihadists have lost all but a tiny patch of land in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.

Syrian forces say they hold hundreds of suspected IS fighters and their relatives.

“As thousands of foreigners flee Daesh’s crumbling caliphate, the burden which is already too heavy for us to handle is getting even heavier,” SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said.

“This will remain the biggest challenge awaiting us unless governments take action and fulfill their responsibilities for their citizens.”

About 46,000 people have streamed out of the caliphate’s shrinking territory since early December, says the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Source: Struggle to handle fleeing foreigners from last IS enclave – The Standard