Khaberni - Fadi Al-Qasim, the manager of Al-Hol Camp, announced that the Syrian authorities have closed the camp which was managed by the Syrian Democratic Forces and had sheltered families of "ISIS" members for years, after evacuating its last inhabitants.
Al-Qasim told "France Presse" agency yesterday, Sunday, that "the camp was closed today", after "transferring all Syrian and non-Syrian families", indicating that the government "has put forth developmental plans and reintegration away from the media".
Al-Qasim, the government-appointed official in charge of the camp, mentioned that "women and children of the camp need support to integrate them."
Humanitarian organizations and witnesses told the agency that most of the foreigners who were in the camp have left after the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces at the end of January.
The Syrian security forces, which deployed in broad areas in the north and east of the country that were under the control of the SDF, have taken over the camp, following an agreement between the parties that stipulates a gradual integration process of the military and administrative forces in the Al-Hasakah governorate.
Earlier, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that U.S. intelligence believes that between 15,000 and 20,000 people, including "ISIS" members, have escaped from al-Hol camp in Syria and are now scattered across the country.
The newspaper quoted U.S. officials involved in the latest intelligence assessments as saying that security collapsed in the camp in recent weeks after the Syrian government forces expelled the Syrian Democratic Forces that had guarded the camp for years.
"Financial Times" also reported earlier, citing sources, that thousands of detainees in the camp managed to escape through breaches in the fence and have already dispersed throughout the country, with some making their way illegally to Iraq and Turkey.
The camp housed about 24,000 people, including approximately 15,000 Syrians and about 6,300 foreign women and children from 42 nationalities, the majority of whose countries refuse to take them back, but their numbers have significantly decreased in recent weeks.
