US repatriates 11 citizens from notorious camps for relatives of Islamic State militants in Syria

BEIRUT — The United States has repatriated 11 of its citizens from sprawling camps in northeastern Syria that are home to tens of thousands of relatives of suspected Islamic State militants, the US State Department said on Tuesday.

The repatriation was the largest Washington has carried out from the camps to date, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Five of the 11 citizens returned were children, and one child who was not a U.S. citizen – the nine-year-old brother or sister of one of the other children – was also taken.

As part of the same operation, the US facilitated the repatriation of 11 other camp residents, including eight children, to Canada, the Netherlands and Finland, the statement said.

While the pace of repatriations has increased – neighboring Iraq recently returned hundreds of its citizens – many countries remain reluctant to bring back civilians from the al Hol and al Roj camps, which now house around 30,000 people from more than 60 countries, including most of them children.

The camps are run by local authorities linked to the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF and its allies, including US-led coalition forces, defeated the Islamic State group in Syria in 2019, ending the self-styled Islamic “caliphate” that had ruled over a wide area spanning Iraq and Syria.

Human rights groups have regularly reported on what they describe as inhumane living conditions and abuses in the camps and detention centers housing suspected IS members.

“The only lasting solution to the humanitarian and security crisis” at the facilities “is for countries to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate, and, where necessary, ensure accountability for misconduct,” Blinken said in the statement.