In the crowded, neglected and violent camps for refugees and families from the Islamic State terrorist group, the coronavirus is a new source of fear.

Key points: Detainees live in crowded conditions with poor sanitation and healthcare

Detainees live in crowded conditions with poor sanitation and healthcare There are 67 women and children with Australian links trapped in the camps

There are 67 women and children with Australian links trapped in the camps A counter-terrorism expert says repatriating the women and children could be the best option

Tens of thousands of people are detained in camps and prisons across north-east Syria, a region where many have been displaced by civil war, the Islamic State (IS) group's rise and a recent military offensive by Turkey.

Among them are 67 women and children with Australian links, trapped in camps with limited water and decreasing amounts of humanitarian aid.

"There's a lack of supplies, lack of food, lack of water, no rubbish collection, no medical support," said Sydney man Kamalle Dabboussy, whose three grandchildren are in the notorious Al Hol camp that houses nearly 70,000 people.

"We've also been told by the Red Cross that because of the lack of resources, lack of people in the area, that they are no longer providing medical assistance to anyone in the camp.

"They're only providing assistance in life-threatening situations. So they've actually told us in a roundabout way that we should prepare for possible deaths in the camp."



There are 19 women and 13 children with Australian passports, as well as 32 children born in Syria to Australian parents, in the camps.

The camp houses nearly 70,000 people. ( Reuters: Ali Hashisho )

Another woman with two children had her Australian citizenship stripped.

One Australian woman, who asked not to be identified, told the ABC that aid programs and supplies were being reduced in Al Hol because of the coronavirus outbreak.

"We've been here for so long now and it's just getting worse and worse and worse," she said.

"It's hard enough to keep things hygienic for our children, so I would be scared that it will get worse here."

The Australian Government said it was monitoring the situation in Syria.

"We are not going to put Australian officials' lives at risk to try and extract people from these dangerous situations," the Department of Home Affairs said in a statement.

"Australia funds humanitarian partners who work to provide access to health care, water and sanitation in the camps.

"These partners are refocusing their programs to respond to the pandemic."

'It's the only source of water'

The woman described crowded living conditions, diminishing aid supplies and lengthy lines for poor-quality water.

"As I watch while I'm waiting in line, children sucking on the taps to drink water, I wonder how to keep myself and my children safe from germs and harm's way, from corona — it's the only source of water for us all," she said.

Syria's north-east is controlled by Kurdish forces that sought to create an autonomous region after leading the fight against IS.

Dilgesh Issa from the Kurdish Red Crescent Society told the ABC the north-east Syria administration had been effectively abandoned, because the World Health Organisation (WHO) only deals with the country's central Government in Damascus.

"So far the WHO did not provide any aid to us concerning the coronavirus pandemic," he said.

"Here in north-east Syria, none of the NGOs got help or any aid."

Health problems in the camp were rife before the coronavirus pandemic. ( Reuters: Ali Hashisho )

The WHO rejected the criticism, saying it had delivered training, protective equipment, lab kits and response teams to north-east Syria and was supporting the COVID-19 response there.

When a 53-year-old man died at the start of April, Kurdish authorities said it took two weeks for the Government in Damascus and the WHO to notify local authorities that COVID-19 was the cause.

WHO said the health problems in the camps were already extensive.

Save the Children's Syria response director, Sonia Khush, said many detainees were unwell before the pandemic.

"They've arrived in very vulnerable conditions, often being sick, being injured, having war injuries which were then not treated properly," she said.

"You have a lot of women that have chronic diseases. We're very concerned that a weak and vulnerable population in the camp could really be significantly impacted."

Sixty-seven women and children with Australian links are trapped in camps across north-east Syria. ( Reuters: Goran Tomasevic )

Repatriation could be safest option: expert

The Australian Government removed some Australian orphans and their children from the Al Hol camp last year, but there's been no movement on the other cases.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has said the Government feared some Australians in Syria still hold extremist beliefs and could commit terrorist attacks if repatriated.

But criminologist Clarke Jones, a counter-terrorism researcher from the Australian National University, believes repatriation could be the safer option.

"I think by leaving them there it's going to cause a greater problem," he said.

"It's sort of showing you that there's not a lot of heart within the Australian Government when they really do have the capacity to bring these women and children home.

"The longer we leave them, the longer the issues are going to remain around health. I can only see that the best solution is to bring them back."

The ABC asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Home Affairs what the Government was doing about the women and children in north-eastern Syria, and is yet to receive a response.