The Roj camp in Syria may be closed in the coming days or weeks, according to an official in eastern Syria. Rudaw Kurdish media reported on February 21 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.”
The report comes after other reports have claimed that some 15,000 people left another large camp called Al-Hol. These are some of the 50,000 families of ISIS fighters who surrendered back in 2019. This large group of people mostly consisted of children. The women and children came from some 60 countries. There were also around 7,000 men.
When the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces 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 in around 30 prisons and camps run by the SDF. These facilities held ISIS male prisoners, as well as around 18,000 women and children. The women and children were mostly at two large camps called 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 countries, 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 countries as members, none of them wanted to deal directly with the SDF because they didn’t view it as a government. On the other hand, they didn’t 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 is because Iraq has experience investigating ISIS crimes. Many ISIS crimes, 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.
Syria plans to let women, children go home
The women and children, judged to be less of a threat, were left behind at 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, leaving a few thousand behind. Syrian officials have secured the camp and visited it. They appear to believe the people should have a right to leave. These women and children were never charged with crimes, and they have been denied any due process for seven years. Syria appears to prefer to let them go home, either to Syria, where some are from, or to their roughly 60 home countries.
Meanwhile, at Roj camp, the SDF is still in charge. It is in the spotlight because some 34 Australians there want to go back to Australia. Australia doesn’t seem keen on helping them. This is the usual policy of countries, leaving their citizens in Syria rather than dealing with them.
Rudaw reports that “Sheikhmous Ahmed, who supervises refugee and IDP camps in Rojava, told Rudaw that a joint decision has been made with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to empty the camp.” The report quotes him as saying, “For this purpose, coordination has taken place with the High Commissioner for Refugees regarding their transfer.”
Syrian families are already leaving and going home, apparently. It is not clear why the SDF continued to keep them in Roj camp or Al-Hol once the new Syrian government had emerged. “Roj camp remains under the control of the Autonomous Administration 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 on a daily basis,” Rudaw notes. There are some 730 foreign families from 42 countries in the camp. In addition, there are a handful of Iraqis and Syrians in the camp. “Approximately 2,225 people live in the camp, according to the Kurdish official.”
Now the SDF is moving to deal with the Roj camp and has the people go home and be repatriated. Once again, it is unclear why this process didn’t 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 Autonomous Administration, and we are ready to provide all necessary facilitation.”