The Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria has seen 12 murders of displaced Syrians and Iraqis in two weeks, the UN reported Thursday, sounding the alarm on
"an increasingly secure environment. untenable ”.
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Held by Kurdish forces, the vast camp - the largest in Syria - accommodates nearly 62,000 people, more than 80% of whom are women and children.
There are Syrians, Iraqis, but also thousands of foreign women and their children, particularly from Europe and Asia.
The foreigners are relatives of jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group.
But the Syrians and Iraqis are also displaced people having fled the fighting by Kurdish forces against ISIS and having nowhere to go.
“Between January 1 and January 16, 12 murders of camp residents, Syrians and Iraqis, were reported to the UN,”
according to a statement, which indicates the presence of an Iraqi refugee among the victims.
“The worrying events indicate an increasingly untenable security environment in Al-Hol,”
the UN statement added.
The Al-Hol camp has seen several security incidents in recent months, sometimes involving IS supporters, including escape attempts and attacks on guards or NGO workers.
The incidents sometimes involve bladed weapons or even firearms in some cases.
According to the statement released Thursday, the UN humanitarian coordinator residing in Syria, Imran Riza, and the regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian crisis, Muhannad Hadi, express
"their grave concern at the deterioration of security conditions at the camp", and underline “the urgent need to find a lasting solution for everyone living in the camp”.
Since the fall of the self-proclaimed ISIS "caliphate" in March 2019, the Kurdish authorities have called on the countries concerned to repatriate women and children. However, most countries, especially in Europe, are reluctant to take back their citizens.
Some, including France, have repatriated a limited number of children orphaned by jihadists.
The
"recent increase in violence" in the camp "compromises the ability of the UN and humanitarian partners to safely continue providing essential humanitarian assistance,"
the statement added.
