Hol Camp is home to 67,000 people from 50 different countries and is considered one of the most dangerous camps in the world. It is also home to thousands of ISIS families who were apprehended by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the capture of the last bastion of the Islamist terrorist organization in eastern Syria last March. While the world public followed the military victory over the ISIS with excitement, the ISIS members in Hol Camp have meanwhile been forgotten.

Turkish invasion of Northern Syria has revived the ISIS

The Turkish invasion of northern Syria has given a fresh impetus to the ISIS. This development can also be seen in the Hol Camp. In the wake of the political crisis in Iraq and the Turkish occupation of further parts of northern Syria, the ISIS has been reactivated in both countries.

Speakers of the international coalition against the ISIS confirm this development, but no countermeasures are being taken. One of the hotbeds where the ISIS is reorganizing is the Hol Camp southeast of Hesekê.

The camp was house to more than 70,000 people, most of them women and children. About 5,000 people from Syria have been released by the Autonomous Administration in recent months because their cases took into account that they had been forced to join the ISIS. About 1,200 persons with foreign citizenship have been handed over to their countries of origin. According to the camp administration, about 67,000 people currently live in Hol.

Executors from Hisba

The reorganization of the ISIS is taking place in Hol Camp through women. A "Hisba structure" has been established in the camp, composed of female jihadists who watch over life in the camp. In Islam, the Hisba is a religious institution for the preservation of the Sharia order. The Hisba women in Hol are predominantly foreigners. They conduct secret training courses, form courts of justice and implement sanctions.

Contact with the outside world is maintained via the social media app Telegram. Those who oppose the terrorist organisation are sentenced to death and killed. In the last eight months at least 26 women have been murdered because they did not follow instructions. However, the camp management assumes an even higher number. In most cases the death sentences are carried out with sharp objects. The bodies are mostly buried under the tents.

The Hisba guards in the camp are not a phenomenon that has occurred for the first time. In the camp in Ain Issa, the ISIS also organized itself under a similar name. When the Turkish state launched its invasion of northern Syria on October 9, 2019, this camp was one of the first targets to liberate the ISIS families. For the ISIS members in Hol Camp, this development was highly motivating.

Hemrîn Hesen from the Hol Camp management fears big problems in the future. These problems do not only affect the region but also represent a danger for the whole world. Unlike in other parts of the world, the UN has not taken responsibility for the camp. The responsibility lies solely with the autonomous administration of North and East Syria.

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