Damascus, Feb 25, (dpa/GNA) – Syrian authorities said on Wednesday, they had found thousands of people living in “shocking” conditions in a notorious detention camp in the north-eastern province of al-Hassakeh, after government forces moved to take control of the site.
Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba told a press conference in Damascus that army engineering units, first secured the al-Hol camp before Interior Ministry forces were deployed inside.
Al-Hol was the largest camp in Syria for relatives of Islamic State members.
The authorities discovered 138 breaches in the camp’s 17-kilometre perimeter fence. Smuggling networks are said to have helped the inmates escape.
Syrian government forces launched an offensive in the north and north-east of the country at the beginning of the year, in an attempt to bring the previously Kurdish-held areas of Syria under their control.
Al-Baba said the facility lacked basic infrastructure. He said some 23,500 people had been at the camp, many suffering from chronic illnesses, including about 6,500 foreigners from 44 countries.
He said the authorities lacked precise statistics due to the absence of transparent records. He insisted however that “there are no [Islamic State] prisoners in al-Hol camp.”
Al-Baba said around 70% of those inside were women, children and elderly people, most of them Syrians and Iraqis who had been detained over alleged links to the Islamic State terrorist group.
He stressed that the authorities had tracked those who left the camp and that most had so far been returned.
Al-Baba said that the government’s approach to the al-Hol detainees would be based on “respect for human dignity and the fair application of the law.” Those proven to have committed crimes would face judicial proceedings, he said.
GNA