Exodus from last Daesh enclave overwhelms SDF

46K

People, including foreigners, have left Daesh area since Dec

omar oil field (syria) — USbacked Syrian forces warned on Sunday they were struggling to cope with an outpouring of foreigners from the Daesh group’s imploding bastion, urging governments to take responsibility for their citizens.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have evacuated nearly 5,000 men, women and children from the militant redoubt since Wednesday, moving closer to retaking the last sliver of territory under Daesh control.

“The numbers of foreign fighters and their relatives that we are holding is increasing drastically,” Kurdish foreign affairs official Abdel Karim Omar said.

“Our current infrastructure can’t handle the mass influx”, he said.

After years of fighting Daesh, Syria’s Kurds say they hold hundreds of suspected Daesh fighters and their relatives.

“As thousands of foreigners flee Daesh’s crumbling caliphate, the burden which is already too heavy for us to handle is getting even heavier,” SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said on Twitter on Saturday.

“This will remain as the biggest challenge awaiting us unless governments take action and fulfil their responsibilities for their citizens,” he said.

No evacuations were reported from the enclave on Saturday, but the two batches that left on Wednesday and Friday included Europeans, Iraqis and nationals of former Soviet countries, according to the SDF.

While civilians are trucked north to Kurdish-run camps for the displaced, suspected militants are sent to SDF-controlled prisons.

Omar said SDF “detention centres can’t accommodate all the fighters” coming out of the last Daesh pocket.

The evacuation of men, women and children has put a strain on Kurdish-run camps for the displaced, especially the Al Hol camp, which now shelters more than 40,000 people.

“There is a lot of pressure on us, especially in Al Hol, where in addition to the relatives of Daesh fighters you have a large displaced population,” Omar said. “Thousands more are expected in coming hours/days at Al Hol camp, putting a further strain on basic services,” it tweeted on Friday.

“This sudden influx presents huge challenges to the response — additional tents, non-food items, water and sanitation and health supplies are urgently needed.”