Majority of imprisoned ISIS fighters either Iraqis or Syrians: US envoy

Suspected ISIS fighters held at an SDF-run prison in Hasakah, Nov. 2019. (Photo: Joanne Stocker-Kelly)
Suspected ISIS fighters held at an SDF-run prison in Hasakah, Nov. 2019. (Photo: Joanne Stocker-Kelly)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – US Acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS John Godfrey told reporters by teleconference this week that the majority of fighters and displaced persons held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria are either Iraqi or Syrian nationals.

“The situation in northeast Syria with respect to ISIS foreign terrorist fighters is absolutely one of key concern for us and coalition partners,” he said. “And in fact, there are a number of lines of effort underway in addition to urging countries of origin to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate and prosecute where appropriate their FTFs (Foreign Terrorist Fighters) and associated family members.”

Both the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the civilian administration in northeast Syria have repeatedly called on foreign governments to repatriate their citizens. A number of nations have recently repatriated foreign citizens back from Syria, including Switzerland, Finland, and Russia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a summit in Rome in June, described the detention of suspected ISIS fighters in northeast Syria as untenable and called on countries to repatriate their citizens.

“There is a need for countries to take action to repatriate foreign fighters,” he said.

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US Acting Special Envoy Godfrey also underlined that it isn’t just an issue of European or other nationalities, saying, “The biggest cadres in northeast Syria are – in terms of both fighters and displaced persons – are Iraqis and Syrians themselves.” 

“There has been a line of effort underway to repatriate some Iraqi fighters and associated family members, which I think is an important step in terms of addressing the overall scale of that problem set,” he added.

In May, the Iraqi government repatriated 381 Iraqi refugees from the notorious al-Hol refugee camp to Ninewa Governorate’s Jed’dah 1 internally displaced person (IDP), according to a report of USAID. However, thousands of Iraqi refugees are still in al-Hol.

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USAID has said that approximately “80 percent of recently surveyed Iraqi refugees at Al Hol camp expressed a desire to return to Iraq.”

According to the latest data released, there are approximately 31,000 Iraqis in al-Hol, followed by Syrian nationals in second place, but the camp also includes a large number of those from other nations who are accused of ISIS affiliation, plus their children.

Moreover, according to the coalition figures, the SDF continues to hold approximately 10,000 ISIS detainees, including approximately 8,000 Iraqis and Syrians, and about 2,000 from other countries

US Acting Special Envoy Godfrey also said that they continue “dialogue with European countries to urge them to take what we think is the responsible approach, which is to proactively repatriate their citizens.”

He said the goal of such repatriations is “to avoid a scenario in which those individuals might for any number of reasons escape positive control in northeast Syria and constitute a security threat that is difficult to anticipate down the road, whether that’s in the region or in their countries of origin.”

He also said there are efforts to improve some of the “physical facilities in which the fighters are detained, as well as some of the other capabilities that go into maintaining those facilities.”

In August, a coalition general confirmed that the UK government has invested 20 million dollars in a prison in northern Syria.

Read More: Coalition Commander: British gov't invested 20 million dollars in northern Syrian prison

The US envoy also said the US remains “heavily invested in the humanitarian assistance effort that underpinned the ability of the SDF and other local partners to responsibly house the internally displaced persons that reside in a number of camps across northeast Syria.”