Almost four years ago, I visited northeastern Syria and Iraq with questions about the destruction of the ISIS caliphate.
My concern at the time was that ISIS would eventually reemerge and with it the threat of continued terrorism in the Middle East. My questions for the U.S. military were simple: What happens to the family members of ISIS, particularly young children? What about captured ISIS prisoners or innocent refugees from northeastern Syria?
This past July Fourth, I visited the region again, and, unfortunately, I can say we are no closer to a solution today than we were four years ago.
The situation there is unnerving and growing more dangerous.
There are thousands of people housed at the Al Hol displaced persons camp in northeastern Syria. Due to coalition offensive operations against ISIS, the camp has grown from a few thousand refugees to more than 57,000 people today. More than 90% of the occupants at Al Hol are women and children, and more than half of those inside the camp are under 16 years old.
The conditions in the camp are severe and difficult, and the reign of ISIS remains strong inside the camp. ISIS elements deny children educational opportunities, force young women into marriage, and radicalize young boys to fight for the caliphate. The camp is the perfect breeding ground for future ISIS fighters and leadership. Make no mistake: ISIS 2.0 will come from Al Hol. Those in charge of the camp are doing the best they can to prevent this from happening but have been given a job that is virtually impossible.
While there, I also toured prisons that hold ISIS fighters captured after the destruction of the caliphate. The Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of Kurds and Arabs who aligned with the United States to destroy ISIS, are in charge of holding more than 10,000 ISIS fighters in these facilities.
Earlier this year, there was a coordinated ISIS attack on one of these jails that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 guards and ISIS prisoners who tried to escape. The guard force, led by the SDF, was able to subdue the uprising with the help of the American military — another prime, often underreported, example of why the U.S. military presence is the best insurance policy against the reemergence of ISIS. I very much appreciate President Joe Biden leaving this small contingent of troops in place.
Yet the growing threat in the region is proof that we cannot ignore these problems. Where one ISIS leader has been taken down, another has risen to take his place.
Here are a few ideas to help prevent ISIS from making a reemergence.
First, we must reduce the numbers in Al Hol and appoint a special envoy to manage the refugee crisis in the region. A special envoy will motivate the international community and ensure that the U.S. doesn’t take on this fight on its own. Already, the American military, nongovernmental organizations, and our partners in Syria are working hard to prevent the reemergence of ISIS. But the sheer scope and size of Al Hol is a problem that requires additional support.
The SDF and NGOs currently guard and administer the camp. However, their ability to secure the facility and mitigate the humanitarian challenges there are inadequate. Of the 57,000 residents in the camp, 28,000 are from Iraq. The Iraqi government must continue to repatriate its citizens from the camp and get them out of there quickly. I spoke with Ambassador Romanowski, our nation’s ambassador to Iraq, and am confident she understands the urgency in finding a solution.
In addition to the Iraqis, there are also Syrians who fled Assad-controlled territories and would face certain death if they returned home. With this reality in mind, we must improve the living conditions of the camp quickly.
The radicalization potential of this camp remains unlimited. The best immediate solution would be to reduce its size and start weeding out the ISIS leaders who are turning the camp into a recruitment base.
Second, we must establish an international tribunal for ISIS prisoners. I previously proposed an international tribunal to adjudicate the fate of ISIS prisoners in Syria, similar to what we did in the Balkans in the 1990s. There must be some judicial system available to deal with this problem because warehousing more than 10,000 people in facilities vulnerable to outside attacks and break-ins is not sustainable. We need a system to determine which prisoners must be incarcerated indefinitely and which ones can be released.
Third, we ought to work with our allies to improve the quality of life in northeastern Syria. It is time for the Gulf Arab states to invest heavily in restoring the region and helping it become economically self-sufficient so that an entire generation of young people aren’t radicalized by a terrorist group looking to take advantage of their vulnerability. The developed world can help with this and offer aid to improve conditions for communities that were devastated in the fight against ISIS. The world, not just the United States, needs to do more. If we don’t, we risk turning a blind eye to ISIS’s reemergence and putting at risk the security of the international community.
Lastly, we must encourage economic partnership between Turkey and northeastern Syria. If Turkey makes another incursion into northeastern Syria like they did in 2019, the refugee problem will worsen, and the potential for ISIS prisoners to escape will increase. The SDF currently guarding the ISIS prison camps may abandon their efforts to keep ISIS at bay as they are forced to fight for their own homes.
It is long past time to negotiate buffer zones between Syria and Turkey that would ensure Turkey’s national security interest and protect indigenous people in northeastern Syria. The area is fairly rich with oil, and integrating the economies of Turkey, northeastern Syria, and Iraq would benefit all.
If we do nothing, the rise of terrorism in Syria and the human suffering that exists today will worsen. I recognize there is no easy solution. However, we must take steps now to ensure the safety of our homeland. Preventing ISIS or a similarly hateful ideology from reemerging must remain a top priority. The protection, safety, and security of the people depends on it.
Lindsey Graham is a U.S. senator for South Carolina. He currently serves as the ranking member on the Senate Committee on the Budget, as well as a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
