The report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, published today, states that even after five years since the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in that country, almost 30,000 children of militants and their helpers of various nationalities are suffering abuse in camps, prisons and rehabilitation centers on northeast of Syria.
The commission’s report states that most of these children were brought to parts of Syria and Iraq by their parents after IS declared a caliphate there in 2014. The UN called on the countries where the children came from to return them and integrate them into their societies.
The largest number of children is in the Al-Hol refugee camp, which houses tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children of IS fighters, as well as their supporters. A smaller number of children are in the Roz camp, while teenage boys are held in prisons and rehabilitated by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The report of the UN Commission states that living conditions in Al-Hol and Roz refugee camps can simply be described as “cruel and inhuman treatment and violation of personal dignity”. Al-Hol camp, which once housed more than 70,000 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, now houses almost 45,000 people, as some countries have already repatriated them, according to a local official.
Citizens of other nationalities live in a part of the camp known as the “Attic”, which is considered the home of the most die-hard IS supporters, many of whom came to Syria and Iraq as early as 2014.
