ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Norway said Tuesday it was repatriating two women and three children from a detention camp in northeast Syria housing suspects with links to the Islamic State (ISIS), explaining the decision on grounds of security concerns and squalid conditions. “There are a number of considerations for bringing the children home. The camps are completely unsuitable for a child’s development, both physically and psychologically. The decision to provide consular assistance in this case has been made out of consideration for the children’s lives and health,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement. Thousands of children of foreign nationals with suspected links to the Islamic State (ISIS) live in northeast Syria’s al-Hol and Roj camps, with human rights groups calling camp conditions “filthy,” “often inhumane,” and “life-threatening.” “The situation for the children in the camp they have been in is dangerous, both in terms of safety and health. Getting these women back to Norway is also important for security reasons,” Huitfeldt added, noting the necessity of the repatriations to avoid security threats. “The two women will be arrested by the police upon arrival in Norway,” according to the statement. All five of the women and children were housed in the Roj camp. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who control northeast Syria, fought the lion’s share of the battle against ISIS and arrested thousands of the terror group’s fighters along with their wives and children when they crushed ISIS territorially and took the group’s last stronghold in Syria in 2019. Over 50,000 ISIS-linked people are kept in the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka province, while thousands of others are kept in Roj camp. The camp at al-Hol, located in the far southeast of Hasaka, has been branded a breeding ground for ISIS and described as a “ticking time bomb” by authorities, who say the situation in the squalid facility is “very dangerous.” Kurdish authorities in the region have repeatedly called on the international community to repatriate their nationals from the camps, but their calls have largely gone unanswered as most countries are unwilling to bring back their ISIS-linked nationals due to security concerns. In the statement, Huitfeldt thanked the Kurdish administration “for the role they have taken and continue to take on behalf of the international community in combating and containing” ISIS.
