ICRC Reports 'Desperate Need' at Camp Where Some Displaced IS Families are Housed
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned of “desperate need” among the residents of a camp for internally displaced people in eastern Syria. ICRC President Peter Maurer visited the al-Hol camp in Hassakeh in late March.
In a statement at the end of a five-day visit to Syria, Maurer described conditions at the camp: “Media attention has focused upon the fate of the foreign fighters. But these are a small percentage of those in Al Hol and the other camps. Around 90% of those arriving are women and children, many of whom have been through extremely traumatic experiences. Dozens of children have died because of the cold and conditions in Al Hol in the last weeks.”
A number of the families of Islamic State fighters were relocated to the camp at al-Hol in late February, according to Kurdish news outlet ANHA, during fighting with US-backed SDF fighters in Deir Ezzor.
The ICRC reported that the population at al-Hol ballooned from 11,000 people to 74,000 people over a three month period. Credit: International Committee of the Red Cross via Storyful
