Syria's Roj camp detainees report worsening raids, extortion and violence

Women and children held at Roj camp in northeastern Syria say conditions have deteriorated sharply, with reports of night raids, gunfire, extortion and assaults by camp security. The camp holds more than 2,300 women and children, many detained over alleged links to ISIL. Detainees and rights groups describe the site as a place of open-ended detention behind guarded fences and barbed wire.

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According to accounts gathered from detainees, the violence has intensified in recent months. One woman said bullets could pass through her family's tent when shooting starts, while others described guards throwing stones and a boy suffering a serious head injury. Complaints to the administration, they said, have brought promises but little change.

The allegations could not be independently verified, but they were said to match findings from United Nations investigators and non-governmental organisations. The United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria told the Human Rights Council on 8 September that conditions at Roj had worsened over the past year. It said the camp had seen regular night raids, extortion and violence by camp security, and described it as the world's largest site of mass arbitrary detention of women and children on security grounds.

The commission's assessment adds weight to long-running concerns about the legal status and treatment of people held there. Roj camp has become a symbol of the unresolved aftermath of the territorial defeat of ISIL in Syria. Many of those held are women and children accused of family or other associations with the group, rather than of direct battlefield roles.

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Human rights experts have long argued that indefinite detention in such camps breaches international law, while the humanitarian situation remains tied to broader questions about accountability, repatriation and the future of detainees and their children. The situation is also unfolding amid major political and security changes in northeastern Syria. On 25 August, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced it would dissolve as an independent military force under an agreement with the central government in Damascus.

After a government offensive in January, the SDF lost much of the territory it had controlled and agreed to merge with the national army, while its commander Mazloum Abdi was appointed a presidential adviser. Roj, which the SDF had controlled until last month, is now the responsibility of the Syrian state. What remains unclear is how the transition in control will affect security, oversight and living conditions inside the camp.

Detainees say the handover has not brought stability, and one account described a divided security presence. It is also not clear whether the reported abuses will prompt a formal response from Damascus or further international scrutiny. For now, the camp remains a focal point for concerns over detention, accountability and the treatment of women and children linked to ISIL.

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