As the Islamic State in Syria Fell in 2019, thousands of ISIS affiliated women fled with their children, ending up in detention camps run by the Kurdish paramilitary Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Al-Hol, the largest camp, was closed in February 2026 after the Syrian government took control of it in January. Al-Roj, the other SDF run camp holding mainly foreign ISIS women and children, remains open.
Al-Hol had one section for Syrian and Iraqi nationals, and a section called the annex for foreign nationals. In January 2026 the population in the camp was estimated to be 18,500 Syrians and Iraqis, and 6,200 foreign nationals from 60 different countries. When Al-Hol closed, many of the Syrian and Iraqi families in the camp returned to their communities or were taken to Ak Burhan camp.
The closure of Al-Hol was chaotic due to the large camp population and fighting between the government and SDF. Many people escaped or were smuggled out of the camp with no oversight to determine who they were and where they planned to go. It is unclear how many former detainees still hold ISIS ideologies and if they will try to rebuild the group. Foreign families who remained in Al-Hol until its closure were also taken to Ak Burhan.
Al-Roj has about 2,300 residents, 60% of whom are children. Because Al-Roj almost exclusively holds foreign women and children, there is no straightforward path for the future of the camp and its residents. Countries with citizens who traveled to Syria to join ISIS have been reluctant to repatriate their nationals. Denmark, the UK, and the US have revoked the citizenship of some of their women, and other countries have refused to repatriate anyone. In May, a group of Australian women and children managed to return home despite the country’s refusal to repatriate. Australia’s government said they could not legally stop the returnees from entering the country.
The handling of Al-Hol and Al-Roj highlights a breakdown in security, justice, and human rights.
Security
Some people in the camps denounced ISIS, but others stayed loyal and enforced ISIS ideology. ISIS has remained active in Syria despite losing their territory in 2019, and individuals who escaped Al-Hol may rejoin the group. So far, foreign women who have returned to their home countries without support have been apprehended at the airport, but one woman managed to smuggle herself from Al-Hol to Lebanon, proving that undetected international travel is possible for former detainees.
There are concerns about children in the camps being raised as the next generation of ISIS fighters. Children whose mothers who no longer support ISIS are beaten by other children, and the camps lack deradicalization resources.
“From a counterterrorism perspective, keeping individuals unlawfully detained under catastrophic circumstances is not risk reduction. It is risk production.” – 2026 report from Repatriate the Children Sweden
Justice
None of the thousands of women at Al-Hol and Al-Roj have been charged with any crimes. Hodan Abby, an Australian woman formerly held in Al-Roj has been named by other detainees as a violent ISIS enforcer and is alleged to have enslaved and abused a Yazidi girl in 2016. Abby was released from Al-Roj with other Australians, but she has not returned to Australia, likely because she has seen returnees getting arrested. Because Australia refuses to support repatriation, Abby will not face consequences for her crimes in her home country, and it will fall on Syria to prosecute her if they decide to. Abby is one example of how the international community’s refusal to repatriate has allowed individuals to avoid accountability.
Human Rights
Children in the camps have been punished for their parents’ decisions. In 2o23 less than half the children in Al-Hol were attending teaching centers. Both Al-Hol and Al-Roj have struggled to provide adequate food, water, and healthcare. Many boys are taken from their mothers around age 12 and put in rehabilitation centers. These centers provide education and deradicalization services but mothers and boys have expressed fear over the prospect of forced separation. The SDF sited concern about sexual violence and child marriages in the camps as the reason for separation.
Since the closure of Al-Hol, the situation in Al-Roj has deteriorated. Women in the camp started protesting after the SDF allegedly beat a woman for refusing to give them her phone and money. On July 31, 2026, guards entered the camp and opened fire; no one was injured or killed.