Progress in Repatriations: How Foreign Assistance Is Addressing the Humanitarian and Security Crises in Northeast Syria: Part 1 of 2

As a result of intense United States diplomatic engagements, between 2022 and 2023, almost 30 countries repatriated nearly 7,000 family members associated with foreign terrorist fighters from northeast Syria, reducing the population in al-Hol displaced persons camp to fewer than 48,000 people.

If we work together, we can not only mitigate the risk each country faces individually in bringing its nationals home but also reduce the risk of an ISIS resurgence that threatens us all.

Ian MossDeputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism

Between 2011 and 2019, tens of thousands of men, women, and children left their homes to fight for the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and its al-Qa’ida affiliate predecessor.  Following the global Coalition’s territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019, our local partners detained ISIS fighters, and relocated associated family members to displaced persons camps in northeast Syria.  

Roughly 50 percent of al-Hol camp residents are under 12 years of age and unless action is taken, they will remain vulnerable to ISIS recruitment.  Children and families of ISIS fighters require basic life support services and advanced rehabilitation and reintegration support, which the de facto NES authorities cannot effectively provide.  

The situation in northeast Syria presents grave humanitarian concerns and local, regional, and international security risks.  Conditions in the camps limit the provision of humanitarian aid and leave individuals susceptible to violence and radicalization to violence.  The Bureau of Counterterrorism leads efforts to encourage, facilitate, and support repatriations of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and associated family members from northeast Syria.

In 2022, we made significant progress repatriating more than 3,000 individuals to several countries, including Albania, Barbados, Canada, France, Iraq, Kosovo, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Netherlands, Norway, Sudan, Spain, and Slovakia.  Already in 2023, 14 countries have repatriated more than 3,500 of their nationals. 

With nearly 9,000 FTFs in custody, the Coalition’s D-ISIS partner, the Syrian Democratic Forces, manages the largest concentration of detained terrorists in the world.  The Bureau of Counterterrorism partners in Kazakhstan, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Iraq have demonstrated success in repatriating and prosecuting FTFs, but efforts to encourage other countries of origin to repatriate their nationals among this population have been less successful.  There are a variety of reasons for this, including a lack of political will and domestic support, along with concerns over threats returnees may pose.  The alternative to repatriation, however, is a possible resurgence of ISIS.

The United States is supporting partners to address this challenge in a way which reduces risks posed by returning FTFs.  “If we work together… we can not only mitigate the risk each country faces individually in bringing its nationals home but also reduce the risk of an ISIS resurgence that threatens us all,” said Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ian Moss, in his remarks to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In part 2, I will outline foreign assistance programming aimed at supporting countries of origin in investigating, prosecuting, incarcerating, rehabilitating, and reintegrating their FTFs.

For more information, read Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ian Moss’s Fireside Chat with Matthew Levitt.

About the Author: Christine Asetta is a Program Manager in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, Office of Programs.