ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Saturday reiterated their call for the international community to concern themselves with the radicalization taking place amongst children at the notorious al-Hol camp, mostly made up of families of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters, saying “major terrorists” would be created in the camp if ignored. "Children in al-Hol camp are the majority, and there, they are trained in the ISIS mentality," said Nuri Mahmoud, spokesperson for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), in an interview with the YPG-affiliated Hawar News Agency (ANHA), published early Saturday. “If the ISIS mentality continues in the camp, it will bring about major terrorists.” More than 5,000 members of Rojava security forces, including the YPG, arrested 125 suspected members of ISIS, including 20 leaders, in a five-day sweeping operation in al-Hol camp, authorities announced on Friday. The YPG is the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which handles security in Rojava. The camp houses an estimated 61,000 people from dozens of countries, the majority of whom are family members of suspected ISIS fighters. They have been interned in the camp since the territorial defeat of the group two years ago. Two thirds of the camp’s population are children. The camp has been described as a humanitarian disaster and a potential breeding ground for extremism. "We consider those ISIS families as civilians, but they are of a very dangerous extremist mentality, and urge killing under the names of apostates and infidels," added Mahmoud. “This is a psychological disease.” The spokesperson called on the international community “to get close to this issue seriously, according to the constitutions of their countries and international treaties and agreements," saying countries should repatriate their citizens - a call made repeatedly by Kurdish officials. Many foreign governments, in Europe in particular, have resisted bringing their citizens home, citing security concerns. So far, most repatriations have been of children. Elham Ahmed, President of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political arm of the SDF, warned in late November that “Their [ISIS members'] children are growing up in camps … Those children were aged 14 [when they were captured], but they have turned 18 or 19 now. They have become a generation that can help Daesh [ISIS] get stronger and regroup, creating a great threat again.”
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