The Syrian government announced, through the director of Al-Hol camp, Fadi Al-Qassem, that the camp has been “closed,” adding that “its women and children need support to be reintegrated.” Meanwhile, the Iraqi News Agency declared that the camp had been “dealt with and dismantled,” and that approximately 22,000 people had been transferred to Iraq.

However, these “announcements” about resolving the camp and its surrounding “issues” are shrouded in ambiguity regarding the fate of many of its former residents, particularly Turkish nationals. Documents reviewed by Daraj, copies of which it obtained digitally, reveal the presence of 1,497 Turkish women and children in Al-Hol camp, and 176 women and children in Roj camp. Some of them have been transferred to Iraq, which recently announced, through its foreign minister, that Turkey would receive “its nationals involved in terrorism-related cases.”

Turkish newspapers, citing official sources, reported that there are approximately 1,300 women and children holding Turkish citizenship in camps across Syria and Iraq. There is no clear information about how many will be repatriated. Legal arguments further complicate the matter, suggesting that some of the women were tried in absentia in Turkey, and that their detention in the camps constitutes part of their sentence, given the time they have already spent there and the fact that no charges were brought against them in the camps themselves.

At the same time, many of the women insist on returning to Turkey. One of them said: “We came to Syria in 2015. We are a family of eight… In August 2025, they told us: those who wish to return to Turkey will be deported. They took our records, but nothing happened.”

Turkish newspapers report that in September 2025, Turkish teams visited Baghdad to collect fingerprint samples and DNA from Turkish nationals. Turkish investigators also recorded testimonies detailing how they had been recruited. Once paternity is confirmed, representatives from the father’s country are included in the investigations.

Following the takeover of the camp by the Damascus government, Ankara pledged to repatriate its citizens. However, this will not take place before teams of psychologists and social workers visit to provide psychological support and rehabilitation, a process that may extend until 2027. The plan includes rehabilitating children in Turkey upon their return, after which they would be handed over to relatives.

The website Kısa Dalga added that around 600 Turkish children remain in Kurdish custody. They are to undergo rehabilitation “in place” before being transferred to Turkey. The most complex cases involve children of mixed nationality. For example, if a Turkish woman gave birth to a child fathered by a Russian man, Russian officials would also join the investigation, according to a diplomatic source cited by Kısa Dalga.

As for the trials of the women, journalistic sources suggest that Turkey could revive the model of the “border courts” implemented in 2009 to handle cases involving individuals who joined the PKK.

What About Those Who Fled?

After the Damascus government “took control” of Al-Hol camp, some Syrian families left under government supervision, while others escaped through smuggling networks. Jihan Hanan, former director of Al-Hol camp, said: “Every night, cars would arrive to take women and children toward Idlib. It was not carried out in an organized manner.”

Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the UNHCR representative in Syria, stated: “The Syrian authorities have informed the agency of their plans to transfer the remaining families in Al-Hol camp to Akhtarin camp in Aleppo province.”

Turkey also figures in reports about those who have fled. Stories circulated about a Lebanese woman and a Belgian woman who allegedly escaped via Turkey to return to their home countries. Meanwhile, Australia refused to receive 34 women and children from the Roj camp. Documents reviewed by Daraj, however, indicate the presence of more than 64 women and children from Australia in the two camps, nearly double the officially reported figure.

As for what is actually happening on the ground, information remains scarce, especially amid reports that a large number of residents have escaped from Al-Hol camp. The situation has been summed up in a chilling phrase: “Al-Hol camp is nearly empty,” with fewer than 1,000 women and children reportedly remaining before its closure. Today, the camp has been officially declared closed.

Turkey’s use as a transit and smuggling route for families leaving Al-Hol, much as it previously facilitated the entry of foreign fighters into Syria, remains a contentious issue. In the past, multiple recruitment networks were exposed. Additionally, several individuals suspected of financing Islamist groups in Syria were reportedly released following the fall of Assad.

These opaque policies raise renewed questions about Turkey’s commitment to combating ISIS, particularly as a member of the anti-terror coalition. Turkey was slow to join the coalition, initially refused to allow the United States to use Incirlik Air Base, and did not participate in direct air operations against ISIS until July 2015, months after the coalition was formed.

Further ambiguity surrounds the judicial framework through which women previously detained in Al-Hol camp will ultimately be processed.

Amid these developments and reassurances from the Syrian government regarding the camp’s closure, the question of foreign nationals remains unresolved. There is still no clear information about their whereabouts or fate.

Human Rights Watch stated that “regardless of their affiliations or alleged actions, these detainees were held for years without due process and are now detained in another country without sufficient safeguards. Victims of ISIS crimes deserve real justice, and that requires fair trials for the accused.”

Ian Moss, former coordinator for counterterrorism at the US State Department and formerly responsible for ISIS detainees and their families, told Human Rights Watch: “This is not a deliberate attempt to pursue justice and accountability while respecting rights and legal standards. This is a convenient attempt to wash one’s hands of the situation.”

Trials of Turkish-National Fighters

At the end of last year, Turkish authorities arrested around 350 individuals suspected of links to ISIS. At the same time, others accused of financing the organization were released, a move interpreted by some observers as the result of negotiations with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

Turkey has previously launched a series of trials against ISIS fighters and affiliates who had acquired Turkish citizenship, or held Turkish residency or temporary protection status, though they were not born Turkish nationals. Some were Syrians from Raqqa, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zor; others came from Punjab, Iraq, and Yemen. Dual nationality was not considered an obstacle, and they were prosecuted in Turkish courts.

The current ambiguity, coupled with the absence of official figures regarding judicial proceedings and the evolving relationship between Ankara, Syria’s new administration, and ISIS, has brought the issue back into focus. Turkish authorities reportedly believe that among the 2,000 individuals transferred to Iraq are suspects linked to the 2015 Ankara bombings, while some others remain detained in prisons in al-Hasakah.

This figure is contrasted with other estimates. Kurdish newspapers reported that around 66 Turkish nationals were transferred to Iraq, while Turkish outlets referred to approximately 2,000 fighters under what they described as “judicial and security arrangements between Ankara, Baghdad, and Washington.” According to Turkish sources, these arrangements include filing charges of “crimes against humanity” and genocide against the most prominent suspects.

From the Iraqi side, Ali Diaa, Deputy Head of the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation at the Supreme Judicial Council, stated that “it is not currently possible to discuss handing these defendants over to their home countries before investigative procedures are completed.” He emphasized that “all trials conducted in Iraq are carried out exclusively under Iraqi law, and Iraqi legislation is applied in these cases.”

Ali Diaa concluded by noting, “ISIS members were not subjected to any trials in Syria. They were merely detained over the past years without interrogation processes conducted by the coalition or the courts during that period.”

In the same context, Turkish reports point to coordination between Ankara, Baghdad, and Washington to prosecute ISIS affiliates in Iraq on charges of “crimes against humanity” and “genocide.”

There is no clear figure for the number of Turkish fighters who joined ISIS. Notably, Turkey had left its borders largely open to foreign fighters entering Syria. In 2014, The New York Times quoted a Turkish fighter as saying the daily salary reached $150, “and everything else was free, even shopkeepers would give us goods for free out of fear.” In 2013 alone, an estimated 30,000 foreign fighters entered Syria via Turkey.