United Nations Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin expressed her concern on Friday regarding the "arbitrary detention of tens of thousands of children in northeastern Syria due to their alleged connections to the extremist group ISIS, in violation of international law." Following her return from the region, the UN rapporteur stated she was also "worried about the abduction of hundreds of boys from the camps."
Thousands of internally displaced persons and families of suspected ISIS fighters, including Syrians, Iraqis, and individuals of other nationalities, are held in detention camps across the region after fleeing from areas controlled by extremists during the conflict in Syria. Ní Aoláin noted, "The issue that represented the greatest concern for me and my team during our visit to northeastern Syria is the arbitrary and indefinite mass detention of children, especially boys."
She added that "their detention in camps, prisons, and centers arose from claims of forming a security threat due to their alleged previous links or those of their parents to ISIS." Ní Aoláin's comments came the day after what she described as the first visit by a UN human rights expert to the region. Among the places she visited was the al-Hol camp, run by the Kurds, which houses around 55,000 people, including 31,000 children. The camp also includes nationals from Western countries, despite UN pressure for their repatriation.
Ní Aoláin described the conditions in al-Hol as "harsh and extraordinary," stating that temperatures reached 50 degrees Celsius during her visit. She pointed out that the term "camp" is not appropriate as people are not free to come and go. She stated, "It appears that no one realizes that the detention of children constitutes a gross violation of international law, seemingly part of an endless cycle of arrests of individuals of various ages."
She also expressed concerns about the separation of hundreds of boys from their mothers in the camps based on the alleged security risks they pose. Ní Aoláin did not disclose the whereabouts of these boys, but she stated earlier that they had been taken to unknown locations.
