Exodus of ISIL-linked detainees from Syria camp sparks security concerns

The al-Hol camp population is reported to have dropped by thousands after the SDF’s chaotic handover to the Syrian government.

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The number of residents at one of Syria’s most notorious camps has dropped rapidly, going from about 24,000 earlier this year to the low thousands at most, humanitarian, diplomatic and local sources from the country’s northeast have told Al Jazeera.

The al-Hol camp, near the Syria-Iraq border, had held mostly internally displaced Syrians and approximately 6,000 third-country nationals with links to ISIL (ISIS). It was managed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) before a government offensive in Syria’s northeast in January forced the SDF to withdraw.