ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The death of one child and injuring of two others in a truck accident this week show the dangers children face in the notorious al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria (Rojava), Save the Children warned this week, as a separate report by Amnesty International increased pressure on governments to repatriate the tens of thousands of children in the camp who have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty and exposed to life-threatening and inhumane conditions since 2019.
Around 60,000 Syrians, Iraqis and third country nationals, mostly women and children, have been detained in al-Hol camp without access to due process, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The camp is run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) which has repeatedly urged foreign countries including Iraq to repatriate their citizens; a call echoed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Despite its reputation for housing individuals affiliated with Islamic State (ISIS), the camp is home to many thousands of displaced people without any association to the terrorist group - including 27,000 children, who are facing increasingly unbearable conditions, not least as the weather turns colder. Another charity, Syria Relief, has warned of the risks this winter’s freezing conditions will pose in ill-equipped camps.
Accidents and violence are also frequent occurrences. Two Iraqi women and a 16-year old girl from the same family were killed in the camp on Monday, as a water truck belonging to the NGO CARE International crashed into the tent they were in.
According to Save the Children, two other children were hospitalised with injuries sustained in the deadly incident, with a 9-year-old girl being treated for a fractured pelvis and broken legs.
Water trucks are the main source of water for the camp and accidents are all-too frequent. “On 20 November this year, a 10-year-old girl from Tajikistan died after being hit by a truck, and a three-year-old Iraqi child also died in October,” the charity said.
“Since November 2020, at least six children have died as a result of vehicle accidents,” Save the Children commented, adding that 13 children have been killed in fire-related accidents in al Hol so far this year.
Earlier this week, an Amnesty International report warned of the dire conditions facing the 27,000 children in al-Hol, describing the highly concerning situation in which boys as young as 12 are forcibly separated from their families to be detained in rehabilitation centres outside of al-Hol camp, “solely on suspicion of the boys’ potential “radicalization” in the future and without any evidence of wrongdoing.”
“Tens of thousands of children from Syria, Iraq and over 60 other countries, have been abandoned to misery, trauma and death simply because their governments are refusing to assume their responsibilities and bring these children back to a safe and secure environment,” said Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s Syria researcher.
“Governments must stop flouting their international human rights obligations to uphold these children’s right to life, survival and development and promptly repatriate them as a matter of urgency. Additionally, the Autonomous Administration must draw up a clear mechanism of return for Syrian children, their mothers or caregivers.”
A Save the Children report on the need to repatriate foreign children in al-Hol and Roj camps, published in September, illustrated the high murder rates in the camp, with 79 people killed so far this year including three children shot to death.
The report also found that only 40% of children in al-Hol are receiving an education, and that 62 children - approximately two every week - died of different causes in the camp since the beginning of the year.
Two Iraqis were shot dead in al-Hol in 24-hours, it was reported last week.
In November, al-Hol’s internal security forces (Asayish) arrested over a dozen Iraqi nationals in al-Hol camp for committing a number of violations, amid fears of the camp’s increasing crime-rate.
Save the Children has previously estimated that more than 60 British children are trapped in Rojava. The UK repatriated three children in October, taking the total number of repatriated British children from al-Hol to seven.
