Syria reports ‘mass escape’ from detention camp holding ISIS-linked families amid reports thousands fled

By Nadeen Ebrahim, Charbel Mallo, Eyad Kourdi, CNN

(CNN) — A “mass escape” took place last month from Syria’s al-Hol camp that holds families linked to the Islamic State following the withdrawal of Kurdish forces, according to Syrian TV, amid reports thousands of people may have fled.

Nureddin Baba, a Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson, was cited as saying that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from the camp without coordination with the Syrian government or the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.

The SDF rejected the Interior Ministry’s “misleading” statements as a means to evade responsibility and accused Damascus-affiliated factions of entering the camp and removing the families of ISIS members.

“In the face of this deliberate escalation, and amid suspicious international silence, our forces were forced to withdraw in order to avoid turning the camp into an open battlefield,” the SDF said.

“Our forces’ withdrawal came as a direct result of the military attack and mobilization by Damascus targeting the camp and its surroundings,” the statement added.

In January, the SDF said it withdrew from al-Hol camp due to “international indifference” to ISIS and “the failure of the international community to assume its responsibilities in addressing​ this serious matter.”

Baba said Syrian authorities “identified more than 100 breaches in the camp’s perimeter wall, which facilitated smuggling operations,” adding that the number of escapees needs verification.

An internal memo sent to the member states of the European Union raised security concerns that thousands of people — the majority of those living in the camp — may have escaped, according to a Reuters report that was confirmed to CNN by an EU official.

The memo said the status of third-country nationals who fled the camp at al-Hol “remained unclear.”

The Wall Street Journal, citing US intelligence agencies, reported that 15,000 to 20,000 people, including ISIS affiliates, are now at large in Syria following the exodus from al-Hol camp. CNN has not verified this number.

The United Nations says al-Hol camp holds more than 30,000 people.

Questions had emerged over the fate of thousands of Islamic State prisoners, and their families in northeastern Syria after government forces last month seized swaths of territory long controlled by Kurdish forces that had been guarding the prisons.

At the time, detainees had previously also escaped from al-Shaddadi Prison, which the SDF said was holding “thousands” of ISIS prisoners.

The SDF had been Washington’s partner in Syria, but the US drawdown from the country in 2019 left the Kurdish group backed into a corner, particularly after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024 and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s rise to power. The US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria had long relied on the SDF to guard ISIS prisons.

The SDF accused the coalition of failing to intervene to halt the advance of government-allied forces.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said earlier this month it completed a 23-day mission to transfer more than 5,700 ISIS detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraqi custody. The detainee transfer was carried out to help ensure the prisoners remain securely held and to reduce the risk of an ISIS resurgence in the region, CENTCOM said in a statement.

About ISIS in Syria

ISIS emerged from the remnants of al-Qaeda in Iraq. At the height of its power, it controlled about a third of Syria, with Raqqa as its capital. In 2017, the SDF declared the “total liberation” of Raqqa, working with US-led coalition forces to reclaim territory from ISIS.

The group was largely defeated in 2019, but some elements still operate clandestinely in Syria and Iraq. When the Assad regime fell, several Middle East states and their Western allies warned that ISIS could exploit the chaos and orchestrate a comeback.

In November, Sharaa joined the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, and his forces continue to hunt down elements of the group.

Pressure has been mounting on Australia, the United States, Britain and other countries to repatriate thousands of citizens, most of them women and children, who have been trapped in detention camps in Syria since the fall of the the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate more than five years ago.

CNN previously reported that more than half of the al-Hol camp’s population are children, the majority under 12 years old.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last week his country will not repatriate its citizens with links to Islamic State members. The comments followed reports that 34 Australian women and children were turned back by Syrian authorities after they had left the al-Roj detention camp housing ISIS militants and their families.

Many governments have been reluctant to repatriate their citizens due to national security concerns and domestic opposition. The al-Roj camp also houses Shamima Begum, the London schoolgirl who ran away at the age of 15 to join ISIS in 2015 and was subsequently stripped of her British citizenship.

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