British jihadist brides being held in a Syrian camp have expressed fears they will die if not repatriated following an ‘alarming’ collapse in living conditions.
The testimony of the mothers held in the Roj camp in the northeast of the country, where Shamima Begum also lives, was revealed in a series of WhatsApp messages shared by the guard.
It will increase pressure on the British government to repatriate them and their children.
In a message sent last September, a British mother in her 20s says she feels the British authorities have ignored her.
“I’m going to die here if they don’t get me away soon,” read the message sent to British relatives. “I really, really want to go back and be with you. I really need hospital care.’
According to the UN, Camp Roj is one of several camps that have held families of individuals believed to be linked to ISIS over the past five years.
An estimated 60 Britons are stationed in the camp, including Shamima Begum, who left London as a teenager to join Islamic State in 2015 (File Photo)
Others, sent to Britain by a small number of British mothers over the past year, depict dire conditions at the camp, which houses around 3,000 people, 65 percent of whom are children.
According to the UN, Camp Roj is one of several camps where families of people linked to IS have been detained over the past five years.
The WhatsApp messages describe children ravaged by hunger, premature deaths from treatable diseases, noxious fumes from oil fields that aggravate those with asthma, as well as pneumonia and suspected deaths.
An estimated 60 Britons are in the camp, including Shamima Begum, who left London as a teenager to join Islamic State in 2015.
They include about 40 children, the majority of whom are under the age of 10 and have been detained indefinitely since the collapse of Islamic State in 2019.
Most European countries, including Spain and France, as well as the United States, have repatriated their citizens so they can receive justice.
They have expressed concerns that the conditions are dire and that failure to return them will hamper global efforts to eradicate terrorism.
The British government has stripped most women of citizenship.
It is the latest Western country besides Australia to routinely block the return of families with links to Islamic State.
Sources say Britain is aware of deteriorating conditions within the camp and note that the UN has regularly raised the issue.
The WhatsApp messages describe children ravaged by hunger, premature deaths from treatable diseases and noxious oil field fumes that aggravate those with asthma, as well as pneumonia and suspected deaths (File Photo)
In addition, British intelligence officials are believed to enter the camps regularly.
Katherine Cornett, head of the unlawful detention team at the human rights group Reprieve, said recent Turkish strikes left the camp without power and running water for several days last week, according to local reports.
Cornett said: “The situation is really getting worse. British detainees, none of whom have been charged with a crime or tried, have been held in appalling conditions for years.
‘Children have died due to lack of access to hospital care. It is only a matter of time before the same fate befalls a British woman or child.”
Other WhatsApp messages sent to British relatives show detainees being unable to access medicine, describing a dentist offering to pull out a child’s tooth without anesthesia due to a shortage.
The message said the mother refused because the girl was “really scared.”
One mother wrote, “(I’m) in too much pain, I hate seeing (my son) go through all these things. I hope the government says yes to me when I come home.”
Another post last July revealed how a mother asked family in Britain for help because she was concerned about her child’s condition, which included persistent high fever, diarrhea, inability to walk and shortness of breath.
Others complained about emissions from nearby oil refineries.
A message from last September read: ‘I know my lungs haven’t been the same since corona (Covid 19) two years ago. I think the production of crude oil and the smell of it makes it difficult to heal better because I can feel the feeling inside.’