Over 2,300 women and children are currently held in Roj camp in northeastern Syria, which has been described by UN experts and human rights groups as a site of open-ended detention. Sara, a detainee who requested anonymity, has been held for nearly a decade and reports that when gunfire occurs, she instructs her children to lie flat on the ground to avoid being hit. Many detainees are held based on alleged associations with ISIL. The camp is surrounded by guarded fences and barbed wire, with a view obstructed by rubbish.
Recent accounts from women in the camp, reported by Al Jazeera, indicate that conditions have deteriorated, with incidents of gunfire at night, aggression from guards, and injuries among detainees. Complaints to camp administration reportedly yield little action. The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria reported on September 8 that conditions in Roj have worsened, highlighting incidents of violence and extortion by camp security.
The camp is noted as the largest site of mass arbitrary detention of women and children on security grounds. The situation in the region has changed following the announcement on August 25 by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that it would dissolve as an independent military force. This transition has led to confusion and tension among the security personnel in the camp, with reports of divided loyalties among guards.
In an open letter, 11 mothers in Roj expressed concerns that many guards remain unchanged despite the shift in authority. Children from over 50 countries are held in the camp without individual legal processes to determine their detention status. Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a former UN special rapporteur, visited the camp in 2023 and stated that conditions met the threshold for torture under international law, and the violence faced by women and children has intensified.
Ni Aolain emphasized that the detention of women and children without legal justification is unacceptable and called for their release. The situation in another camp, al-Hol, has also been chaotic, with many detainees unaccounted for. Beatrice Eriksson, a spokesperson for Repatriate the Children, reported that boys as young as 12 have been separated from their mothers and held in rehabilitation centers or transferred to detention facilities in Iraq.
Eriksson noted that the integration of former SDF forces into the Syrian government could present an opportunity for change, as responsibility for the families shifts to a recognized government. However, detainees feel trapped, as they are advised to contact embassies, which is complicated by their detention. Ni Aolain pointed out that the responsibility for the situation lies not only with the Syrian government but also with foreign governments that have not taken responsibility for their nationals.
For the women and children in Roj camp, the current conditions are unsustainable. One detainee expressed a desire for an end to their suffering, even if it means facing imprisonment in their home countries. At the time of publication, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not responded to requests for comment regarding the situation in Roj camp.