Amnesty Hopes Rise Among IS-Linked Foreign Women in Syrian Camp as Government Offensive Shifts Power

ROJ CAMP, Northeast Syria — In the dust-choked confines of the Roj detention camp, a fragile hope is taking root among its foreign detainees. Hundreds of women, most with ties to the defeated Islamic State group, are now whispering that their nearly decade-long limbo may be ending—not through international diplomacy, but due to a recent Syrian government offensive that has redrawn the map of power in the region.

The camp, housing over 2,300 people near the Iraqi border, remains under the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). But a swift government campaign this month captured vast swathes of SDF-held territory, including the massive al-Hol camp. This military shift has emboldened residents, who now believe the guards controlling their fate may soon be replaced.

"The atmosphere has changed completely," said Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, the camp's director. "We see more hostility. They tell our guards, 'Soon you will be prisoners here, and we will be free.' It has given them a dangerous hope that IS is returning."

The detainees' hopes are pinned on an unlikely figure: Syria's interim President, Ahmad al-Sharaa. Once a leader in an al-Qaeda-linked faction and a rival of IS, al-Sharaa—formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani—has since been removed from key international terror lists. For the women in Roj, his political rehabilitation sets a precedent.

"People called al-Golani the biggest terrorist. Now he is president," said Buthaina, a Tunisian woman who has been in Roj for nine years. "If the world gave him amnesty, why not me? I didn't kill anyone. All we want is a solution."

The camp's population is a stark illustration of a global impasse. While al-Hol primarily holds Syrians and Iraqis, Roj's residents hail from nearly 50 countries, with a large contingent from former Soviet states. Most Western nations have refused repatriation, leaving their citizens in legal and humanitarian purgatory.

"What we are witnessing is the predictable outcome of years of international neglect," said Beatrice Eriksson, co-founder of Repatriate the Children. "These camps are not an accident; they are a political choice. The failure to establish clear judicial pathways has created a time bomb."

The U.S. has begun transferring male IS detainees from Syria to Iraq, but no comparable plan exists for the women and children in Roj. Their futures splinter into divergent paths: some desperately wish to return home, while others, ideologically committed, refuse.

"I didn't come as a tourist. Syria is a Muslim country. Germany is all infidels," said a woman identifying herself as Aysha, declaring her intent to stay.

For others, like a Belgian woman named Cassandra, the desire is simply to leave the camp's tense confines, even if not for Europe. She described being threatened by other residents for maintaining good relations with Kurdish guards during recent fighting. "Belgium only takes back women with children. I have none. I've been here since I was 18," she said.

The government's advance has already caused chaos in other detention facilities, with over 120 inmates briefly escaping a prison near the Iraqi border. A tentative ceasefire agreement includes a provision for the SDF to hand over camp management to Damascus, placing the detainees' fate in the hands of a new, untested administration.

As the geopolitical chessboard shifts, the women of Roj camp wait, their lives suspended between a brutal past and an unimaginable future. "We were punished for nine years that felt like ninety," Buthaina said. "The mistake I made was leaving my country. But must the punishment last forever?"

Voices from the Comment Section

David Chen, Policy Analyst in Brussels: "This situation is a direct consequence of the international community's failure to develop a coherent, legal framework for dealing with returning foreign fighters and their associates. We outsourced the problem to a non-state actor (the SDF) and are now shocked when the geopolitical ground shifts. Repatriation, prosecution, and rehabilitation are difficult but necessary."

Anya Petrova, Human Rights Lawyer in Moscow: "The sheer scale of suffering and the deprivation of basic rights in these camps is a stain on the conscience of every nation that has abandoned its citizens. These are primarily women and children who have endured nearly a decade without due process. 'Camps' by any other name are still prisons for the stateless."

Marcus Thorne, Security Consultant in London (Sharper Tone): "Let's be brutally clear: these aren't tourists who took a wrong turn. They voluntarily joined or supported the most barbaric terrorist regime of the 21st century. Their 'hope' is predicated on the victory of other Islamist factions. Every nation has a right to deny return to those who renounced their citizenship through action. Their plight is tragic, but it is self-inflicted."

Layla Hassan, Community Outreach Worker in Tunis: "The story of Buthaina breaks my heart. We cannot conflate all women in these camps. Many were groomed, coerced, or trafficked as teenagers. Our response cannot be purely security-driven; it must be human-driven. Leaving them in a lawless zone helps no one and only sows the seeds for future resentment and instability."

Reporting was contributed by AP writers from Beirut.