US aid cuts raise security risk at ISIS holding camps in Syria

Authorities and residents at Al Hol camp say suspension of services could lead to protests and chaos

A members of the Syrian Kurdish internal security forces walks past women and children queueing at Al Hol camp in north-east Syria. AFP

The Trump administration’s decision to freeze most US foreign aid risks fuelling an ISIS resurgence, according to authorities in north-east Syria where thousands of the extremist group’s fighters and families suspected of links to them are being held in camps.

The sudden suspension of aid disrupted humanitarian programmes and caused panic among hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries worldwide, including at the Al Hol camp in Syria’s Kurdish-led semi-autonomous region.

Blumont, a US humanitarian aid group that provides most essential services for the camp’s 37,000 residents – mainly women and children, including westerners – had to suddenly stop its assistance. Overnight, food and water distribution, cleaning services and rubbish collection were completely disrupted and the 300 camp employees left out of work.

The funding cut lasted only three days before emergency waivers were granted. But it was enough to temporarily plunge the camp into chaos.

“Complete panic swept through the camp when they stopped providing bread. Life was completely paralysed,” said Fahed Mahmoud, 30, a camp resident from Iraq.

Some residents have begun stockpiling supplies in case aid is cut again, Mr Mahmoud said, with row after row of white tents stretching out into the desert behind him.

“If aid stops entirely, it will lead to total chaos and protests.”

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed coalition that governs the north-east, has long seen Al Hol camp, which it manages, as a “ticking bomb” and a fertile ground for ISIS ideology to be passed on to a new generation.

Local authorities and camp officials have warned of the serious security risks posed by the aid cut. “If aid is fully cut, it will be hard for us to find the resources to keep ISIS prisons secured,” Farhad Shami, the head of the SDF media centre, told The National.

Although most funding has resumed, uncertainty over its duration remains a concern. The US has made it clear that the waiver is temporary, telling the UN last week that “ultimately, the camps cannot remain a direct US financial responsibility”.

Despite the waiver, some services have remained shut, including medical aid and child assistance, according to residents and camp management.

Al Hol camp holds mostly Syrians and Iraqis but also thousands from Europe and Asia suspected of family ties with ISIS fighters. AFP

“In the paediatric unit, doctors used to allow 30 children to visit a day. Since the US aid cuts, that number has dropped to 15," said Firas Raad, another Iraqi resident of the camp.

Mr Mahmoud and Mr Raad denied any ties to ISIS. They say they have been in the camp since 2018 and were displaced by the ISIS war.

Dire humanitarian situation

Al Hol shows signs of desolation and poverty, with children in worn-out clothes wandering among dilapidated tents. Barbed-wire fences and a heavy security presence surround the camp.

It was initially intended to host Iraqi and Syrian civilians fleeing the fighting in the war against ISIS, but its population surged after the group was defeated in its last stronghold, the Syrian town of Baghouz, in 2019.

Thousands of wives and children of suspected ISIS fighters were then transferred north to Al Hol. Because of suspicions that some may still be affiliated with radical groups, residents are not allowed to leave the camp even if they have not been charged, raising human rights concerns.

Among them is Oum Omar, 28, an Iraqi woman from Anbar, covered head-to-toe in niqab, who quickly pulled back a thin black veil over her eyes when approached. “The situation in the camp is tough. We lack everything,” she said.

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Oum Omar is the wife of an ISIS fighter who was captured in Baghouz in 2019, who is now detained in an ISIS prison in the region. Like other women interviewed by The National, she refused to comment on ISIS crimes.

The sprawling camp, the size of a small city, also has a high-security “Annex”, where thousands of foreign wives and children of ISIS fighters, as well as more radicalised women, are held. Few foreigners – the camp's residents include 40 different nationalities – have been repatriated.

The ‘most dangerous camp’

Al Hol is part of a network of camps and prisons run by Kurdish-led authorities in north-east Syria and is probably the most affected by the US funding cut. A significant portion of the camp’s monthly operational costs – up to $3 million – depends on US support.

“No one informed us about the cuts,” Jihan Hanan, the director of Al Hol camp, told The National. "They should have studied the specific situation of the camp. You can’t just cut off water and bread overnight without a contingency plan.

“The risk of protests and attacks on aid centres rises, and it also creates an opportunity for ISIS to exploit the situation and recruit more people.”

Ms Hanan said she fears the US move could be seen as abandonment by the international community, possibly boosting the morale of ISIS sleeper cells. She has worked at Al Hol for three years and considers it the most dangerous camp.

“This is not just about military threats – it is about how resilient the ideology is. The children who arrived as toddlers are now old enough to carry weapons," Ms Hanan said.

Over the years, the SDF has launched several security operations in the camps and says it arrested dozens of ISIS members and uncovered tunnels and trenches for sleeper cells.

Although US funding has resumed, the operations of other aid organisations in Al Hol, including Save the Children and the World Health Organisation, remain closed. “Two education centres and two clinics have been permanently closed,” Ms Hanan said.

With the situation at Al Hol deteriorating, Iraq has begun a programme to repatriate its citizens, which it says will be completed by 2027. The National saw long queues of people waiting to register for a return to Iraq, which is one of the few nations that have started repatriation from the camp.

“We want all foreign nationals to return to their home countries. This is also an international responsibility. We can’t just open the door and tell them to leave,” Ms Hanan said.