The Roj camp in Syria may be shut down in the coming days or weeks, according to an official in eastern Syria. Rudaw, a Kurdish media outlet, reported on Sunday that “Roj camp, which houses families of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters, will be fully closed in the near future, a northeast Syria (Rojava) official said on Saturday.”
This report follows others saying that around 15,000 people left another large camp called al-Hol. These are some of the 50,000 families of ISIS terrorists who surrendered back in 2019. In this framework, the women and children came from some 60 countries. There were also around 7,000 men. The group that left the larger camp consisted mostly of children.
When the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began to clash with the Syrian government in January, there were concerns about what might happen with the estimated 25,000 people in Syria who were incarcerated in about 30 prisons and camps run by the SDF.
These facilities held male ISIS prisoners, as well as around 18,000 women and children. The women and children were mainly located in two large camps, al-Hol and Roj.
Over the last seven years, since ISIS was largely defeated in Syria in 2019, the ISIS families have slowly been repatriated by some countries. Many states, particularly in Europe, did not take back their citizens. However, Iraq eventually took back thousands of its citizens.
The ISIS families were left in limbo for a few reasons. One reason was that, although the anti-ISIS coalition had around 90 members, none of them wanted to deal directly with the SDF because they did not view it as a government.
On the other hand, they did not want the ISIS-linked women and children handed over to the Assad regime or freed. Thus, the people languished in prisons and camps.
The Syrian government joined the anti-ISIS coalition in November 2025. This meant it could not decide what to do with the ISIS detention facilities. US Central Command decided in January 2026, amid clashes between the SDF and Damascus, to move 7,000 ISIS male detainees to Iraq.
This was because Iraq has experience investigating ISIS crimes. Many of these, such as the mass murder of Yazidis, occurred in Iraq. The chaos in Syria also led some to be concerned that the ISIS men would escape.
The women and children, deemed less of a threat, were left behind at the al-Hol and Roj camps. Al-Hol fell into the hands of the Syrian government in January. Many of the women and children left the camp at this time, with only a few thousand behind.
Syria plans to let women, children go home
Syrian officials have secured the camp and visited it. They appear to believe the people should have a right to leave. Those women and children were never charged with crimes, and they have been denied any due process for seven years. Syria seems to prefer to let them go home, either to Syria, where some are from, or to their roughly 60 homelands.
Meanwhile, at Roj camp, the SDF is still in charge. It is in the spotlight because 34 Australians there want to return to Australia. Canberra, however, does not seem keen on helping them. This is the usual policy of countries, leaving their ISIS-linked citizens in Syria rather than dealing with them.
“Sheikhmous Ahmed, who supervises refugee and IDP camps in Rojava, told Rudaw that a joint decision has been made with the SDF to empty the camp,” the news source reported.
Rudaw quoted him as saying, “For this purpose, coordination has taken place with the high commissioner for refugees regarding their transfer.”
Syrian families are apparently already leaving and going home. It is not clear why the SDF continues to keep them in the Roj or al-Hol camps after the new Syrian government emerged.
“Roj camp remains under the control of the [Democratic] Autonomous Administration [of North and East Syria] (DAANES) and is guarded by Asayish [SDF-linked] security forces. Ahmed stressed that the area around the camp is stable and free of ISIS cells, and that aid organizations continue to provide services daily,” according to Rudaw.
It noted that there are some 730 foreign families from 42 countries in the camp. In addition, there are a handful of Iraqis and Syrians there as well. “Approximately 2,225 people live in the camp, according to the Kurdish official.”
Now the SDF is moving to deal with the Roj camp, sending inmates home to be repatriated. Yet, it is unclear why this process did not happen a year ago.
“Previously, contacts were conducted through the [US-led] global coalition and the SDF’s foreign relations office,” Ahmed said. “Now, any country wishing to repatriate its citizens must directly contact the DAANES, and we are ready to provide all necessary facilitation.”