US calls on countries to repatriate nationals from al-Hol

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Sunday once again called on the international community to repatriate citizens, including women and children, with suspected links to the Islamic State (ISIS) from the infamous al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava).

"The United States calls on all countries to repatriate their citizens," Samuel Warberg, a regional spokesman for the US State Department, told Rudaw's Shaho Amin while expressing gratitude to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for their "great effort" in defeating ISIS in the region.

Warberg reiterated calls from other US officials asking the international community to repatriate their nationals from al-Hol as countries continue to express security concerns.

Al-Hol camp is located in Hasaka province and is home to around 56,000 people – mostly women and children of different nationalities that have links to ISIS. Droves of ISIS fighters were taken to the camp by SDF after the Kurdish-led force overran the terror group's last stronghold in Syria in 2019.

The sprawling facility has infamously been branded a breeding ground for terrorism, with authorities describing it as a "ticking time bomb," saying the situation in the camp is "very dangerous" with ISIS sleeper cells active.

Internal security forces (Asayish), in cooperation with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the global coalition, launched a security operation at the camp in late August, arresting some dozen ISIS suspects and seizing weapons.

"We have seen a positive development regarding the global effort to defeat ISIS in recent years," the spokesman added.

Warberg also briefly spoke about Turkey’s renewed threats to launch a military operation in northern Syria, reiterating Washington’s de-escalation calls.

Turkey seeks to target Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, and expel them from the area. It considers the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and has placed both groups on the terror blacklist.

The US official also warned that any military operation in the region would hamper the lasting defeat of ISIS and "would put the US military at risk."

ISIS rose to power across swathes of Syria in 2014 but was territorially defeated five years later. Despite the group's lack of any territorial presence, it continues to pose serious security risks through kidnappings, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings in the war-torn country.