The United Nations has issued a call to action, advocating for an end to the arbitrary and indefinite detention of approximately 52,000 individuals in Syria. As noted by UN experts, the detainees are primarily held in the northeast region of Syria and are associated with accusations of belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL). This situation involves over 52,000 individuals, of whom 60% are children.
The context for these detentions can be traced back to Syria’s turbulent history. Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in 2024, Syria has been in a transitional period after a 14-year civil war that was marked by severe human rights violations. Despite the liberation of territories previously controlled by ISIL, tensions have persisted. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), having detained roughly 52,000 people on suspicion of ISIL affiliations, added to the already substantial number of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions that have been a feature of Assad’s regime, with estimates of over 112,000 missing individuals reported.
The detainees in these camps include not just ISIL suspects, but also children, families of suspects, orphans, refugees, internally displaced persons, and victims of human trafficking. It’s noted by Human Rights Watch and various UN experts that many detainees are non-Syrian nationals. These human rights advocates urge the international community to actively participate in repatriating their citizens and support the political transition in Syria to enable the reintegration of detainees into society.
In a broader context, President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been tasked with unifying the country’s divided factions under his leadership. This coincides with UN experts recommending this transitional phase as a critical moment for addressing the issue of indefinite detentions, creating a framework that reconciles former detainees with civic life and enhances the stability of the region.