Daesh members should not be left alone in Syrian camps, is the suggestion and warning of a UK based think tank Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) report. They have warned about the detention camps to be transforming into mini caliphates.
These camps are holding tens and thousands of Daesh members and holds a security threat for the neighbouring regions. The think tank has suggested that creating a “hybrid court,” similar to systems set up in Kosovo, Cambodia and East Timor should be helpful.
Currently, it is estimated that there are around 70,000 people, including Daesh fighters, women and 27,500 foreign children, being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces at camps in Syria, with detainees originating from at least 60 different countries.
Holding them detained isn’t a viable solution and definitely not rehabilitation either. “The current international response is one of containment, but this is not sustainable,” wrote Sabin Khan and Imogen Parsons, authors of the RUSI report. “As well as denying justice to those who have suffered abuses, there is a growing security threat.”
Amongst those detained are many foreign nationals who were involved with the Daesh forces. These individuals are not being called back by their own nations. Repatriation has become impossible for many who have children when they married such Daesh soldiers.
They include 1,000 people from the UK and EU, with many Western states refusing to repatriate their citizens, including London-born Shamima Begum, who had her citizenship stripped by the British government in 2019.
The RUSI report indeed has gained the backing of significant counterterrorism figures in the UK. Sir Mark Rowley, former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, told a leading US media agency that the current situation in Syria posed a “dangerous long-term threat,” adding: “The deceased victims and widely scattered survivors are surely entitled to this resolution.”