UN calls on 57 countries to repatriate their nationals held in Hol camp

Fifty-seven countries have women and children living in detention camps in northeast Syria, a United Nations expert Fionnuala Ni Aolain said, calling on states to repatriate their nationals immediately.

United Nations expert Fionnuala Ni Aolain called on states to repatriate their nationals held in camps in northeast Syria immediately.

Ni Aolain was referring to ISIS mercenay's families held in Hol and Roj camps, run by Kurdish forces.

"The camps hold over 64,000 people, mostly women and children. Many of them are highly vulnerable," she told reporters in Geneva, via video-link.

Ni Aolain, the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights said she had conveyed her demands in detailed letters to each concerned country, including Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States.

"It is the first time that these 57 states have been named together," said Ni Aolain. "This isn't a club you want to belong to."

Using figures from June 2020, she said that the Hol camp holds around 64,000 people, of which more than 80 percent were women and children.