Today in Focus Can Syria keep the world safe from IS fighters?
Jan 28, 2026
Will Christou, Middle East correspondent for The Guardian reporting from northeast Syria, shares on-the-ground coverage of camps and prisons. He describes chaotic scenes at Al-Hol, dire humanitarian conditions and children trapped there. He outlines shifting control between Kurdish and Syrian forces, security risks from escapes and handovers, and the fragile prospects for stability and wider conflict.
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Chaotic Handover At Al-Hol Camp
- Will Christou arrived at Al-Hol to find the camp in chaos with holes cut in fences and parts burning.
- Syrian government forces had just taken control and looked stunned and overwhelmed after nights without sleep.
Scale And Division Of Al-Hol
- Al-Hol is huge and heavily securitized, once holding up to 75,000 people and now about 25,000.
- The camp splits into a more open Syrian/Iraqi section and a heavily fortified Foreigners Annex with 42 nationalities.
Camps Create Indefinite Detention
- Life in the camps is squalid and effectively indefinite detention for many who never see trial.
- Humanitarian neglect and cold conditions have led to deaths and long-term harm, especially for children raised there.