RTC - Denmark has visited the Kurdish-controlled detention camps in Syria 10 times since 2019. 

Below, you can find pictures and videos from RTC's travels to Syria, visits to the detention camps as well as RTC's work with the children. 

THE AL-HOL DETENTION CAMP

Thousands of women and children were detained as prisoners in the al-Hol detention camp after Kurdish-led troops fought The Islamic State's remaining enclave in Baghouz, Syria. About 60.000 are still detained in the camp. The majority of the detainees are children under the age of 12. They live in conditions the United Nations and other international organizations have condemned.

THE AL-ROJ DETENTION CAMP

The al-Roj detention camp is significantly smaller than the al-Hol camp. Here, 3000 primarily women and children are being held on suspicion of being close family to ISIS members. About 65% of those detained are children. 

THE AUTONOMOUS ADMINISTRATION OF NORTH AND EAST SYRIA (AANES)   

About 700 older children are being held in so-called deradicalization centers and prisons alongside grown men, in northeastern Syria. 

RTC has visited some of the Kurdish-controlled prisons and centres, as well as a daycare for children imprisoned with their mothers. 

Kurdish forces were the West's closest allies in the war against the Islamic State. 11.000 Kurds were killed in this war.

MEETING WITH THE KURDISH FORCES

RTC met with Siyamend al-Ali, spokesperson for YPG and part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controls the detention camps. He advises all countries to repatriate their citizens. 

The local Kurdish self-administration lacks the resources to prosecute the adults or secure the detention camps or prisons. 

He fears that the children will impose a future threat if their countries do not bring them home.  

All the pictures from Syria have been taken by Knud Foldschack, Mahmoud Shiekh Ibrahim, Aref Mahmoud, and Natascha Rée Mikkelsen. All righs are reserved RTC - Denmark