UN Women has called on the international community to take urgent action to end what it described as the mass arbitrary detention of women and children at Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria, warning that the current approach is both a humanitarian and legal failure, and that repatriation is the only sustainable solution.
In a report released Sunday focusing on gender justice, the UN agency said Al-Hol holds tens of thousands of women and children living in inhumane conditions, exposed to violence, sexual exploitation, and deprivation of due process, stressing that the situation undermines counterterrorism efforts rather than strengthening them.
The report, titled “Understanding the Lives of the Women, Men, and Children of Al-Hol Camp,” is based on anthropological research and first-hand testimonies. It challenges the dominant portrayal of the camp’s residents as a homogeneous group of extremist supporters, finding instead that most women are victims of conflict, coercion, trafficking or forced marriage, and not ideologically aligned with the Islamic State group.
According to UN Women, around 91% of Al-Hol’s population are women and children, many of whom have been held for years without charge or trial, amounting to what the agency described as “indefinite, de facto detention.”
The agency stressed the need to distinguish between individuals who may have committed crimes and those who were subjected to forced marriage or exploitation, saying women and children should not be punished for the actions of spouses or relatives. It urged states to repatriate their nationals and, where necessary, prosecute them individually in line with international justice standards.
UN Women said the recently announced agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) presents an opportunity to improve human rights protections and safeguard the dignity of women and girls held at the camp, if followed by concrete measures.
The report warned that conditions inside Al-Hol—marked by extreme poverty, limited services and widespread insecurity—have created an internal “economy of desperation,” including abuse by armed cells and violations by detaining authorities. It said some detainees are pushed into cooperation with extremist elements simply to survive, cautioning that the detention model risks reproducing the very insecurity it seeks to prevent.
Children, the report added, face particularly grave risks. Thousands lack birth registration or access to education, leaving them vulnerable to statelessness and long-term marginalization. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, cited in the report, described the continued internment of children as “completely appalling.”
UN Women concluded that ending mass detention, ensuring accountability on a case-by-case basis, and adopting a rights-based, gender-responsive reintegration framework are not only legal obligations, but essential to preventing a protracted humanitarian and security crisis in the region.
Al-Hol has housed families of Islamic State fighters since the group’s territorial defeat in March 2019. Many Western and Arab states have been reluctant to repatriate their citizens for security and political reasons.
The new Syrian authorities have announced intentions to permanently close the camp within the next year, placing renewed pressure on foreign governments to repatriate the international residents who remain in legal and humanitarian limbo.
According to recent estimates, the camp holds more than 24,000 people, including about 15,000 Syrians, 3,500 Iraqis and 6,200 foreign nationals. Last week, the Arabic investigative outlet Daraj reported it had obtained documents showing the presence of 431 Egyptian women and children in Al-Hol and the nearby Roj camp, many of them minors, including children born inside the camps.
Located about 40 kilometers east of Hasakah and 13 kilometers from the Iraqi border, Al-Hol spans roughly 3.1 square kilometers and is surrounded by a security fence extending more than 12 kilometers. The camp was first established in 1991 by the UNHCR to house Iraqi refugees during the Gulf War.
