“Al-Hawl mini-state” in June 2021 | ISIS affiliates carry out six murders, while more Syrians leave the camp under SDC initiation
The successive incidents at al-Hawl camp in the far south-east region of Al-Hasakah are now a unrefuted evidence of the chaos recently unleashed by the Islamic State in Syria. Al-Hawl refugee camp has become more like a “mini-state” hosting ISIS-affiliated members and families. A true crisis that most countries of the world still ignore in order to avoid repatriating their unwanted citizens who joined the notorious organization. Chaos and lack of security are prevalent within the camp, turning it into a “ticking bomb” that cannot be ignored.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) tracked and monitored the key developments in the camp in June 2021.
As security chaos in al-Hawl camp has alarmingly escalated once again, SOHR activists could document six murders committed by ISIS cells in al-Hawl camp in June 2021, which left seven people dead. The breakdown of fatalities were as follows:
- Four Iraqi refugees, including two women and a minor girl, who were killed in the first, second and third sections of al-Hawl camp.
- Three Syrian displaced civilian, including two brothers and a little girl, who were killed in the camp’s fourth and fifth sections.
Accordingly, the number of murders documented by SOHR in al-Hawl camp since the beginning of 2021 has risen to 53, 13 murders in January, ten in February, 17 in March, one in April, six in May, and six in June. These murders have left 57 people dead, and the breakdown of fatalities in the past six months was as follows:
- Two members of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish).
- 40 Iraqi refugees, including three children and ten women.
- 15 Syrian people, including two children, four woman and the head of the “Syrian Council” in the camp.
- A gunman of a cell responsible for assassinations and murders in the camp, who was killed when he blew himself up with a grenade just after he had been caught by an Asayish patrol which was pursuing him.
On June 5, the administration of al-Hawl camp evacuated 59 families of nearly 202 people, mostly from Ain al-Arab city and countryside (Kobani), from the camp yesterday as a part of the initiative by “Syrian Democratic Council” (SDC) to evacuate Syrians from Al-Hawl camp.
Accordingly, 470 Syrian families have left al-Hawl camp since the beginning of 2021 as follows:
- In January: 98 families
- In February: 105 families
- In March: 125 families
- In May: 83 families
- In June: 59 families.
This development comes as a part of the initiative by the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) to evacuate Syrian displaced people from al-Hawl camp.
Also, on June 5, the Department of Foreign Relations of the Autonomous Administration in northern and eastern Syria handed over a Dutch woman, her two children and another orphan child of ISIS families who were held in al-Hawl camp, to representatives of the Dutch government, in presence of the Netherlands Special Envoy for Syria. The hand over of the woman and children took place under an official return document signed by the Dutch delegation at the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Relations in al-Qamishli city.
The Syrian Observatory renews its appeal to the international community for a solution to “Al Hawl mini-state” crisis, which is considered a clear and present danger to everyone. We, at the Syrian Observatory, once more renew our call to the UN Security Council, all organizations concerned and countries that claim to respect and champion human rights globally to act immediately to stop the crimes and violations committed against the Syrian people by the Islamic State and many other active actors on the ground, and to establish appropriate courts for prosecuting the perpetrators. We call on all those countries that have citizens in Al-Hawl camp to find a solution for those individuals and face up to their responsibility.