'Fear, panic and exhaustion': Women in Syria's Roj camp report worsening abuse
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Reem Aouir
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Fri, 06/19/2026 - 13:54
Detainees in Kurdish-controlled camp housing families of suspected Islamic State fighters say they have been subjected to nightly raids and mistreatment
Roj camp in 2021, where around 2,373 people, mostly women and children, remain detained (Repatriate the Children).
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Women detained in Syria's Roj camp say violence, intimidation and degrading treatment have intensified since the start of 2026, according to a recent report that raises fresh concerns over the fate of women and children still held in the country's last major detention facility for foreign nationals accused of links to the Islamic State (IS) group.
The report, published last month by the Swedish-based rights organisation Repatriate the Children (RTC), draws on testimony from more than 40 women of multiple nationalities held inside the camp between January and May 2026.
Women described nightly armed raids, beatings, gunfire inside the camp, and children being separated from their mothers. The report stated that violations towards the detainees in Roj camp had increased "significantly in both frequency and severity" following developments in January 2026.
United Nations experts have previously warned that conditions in Hol and Roj camps may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, while Amnesty International has documented allegations of gender-based violence and abuse against female detainees.
Even before the latest developments, RTC said women and children held in Roj were long exposed to what it described as "gross and systematic human rights violations".
Located near the Iraqi border in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, Roj camp is controlled and administered by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The facility, which houses women and children linked to suspected former IS fighters, became the country's last major detention camp for foreign families after the collapse of the larger Hol camp in January.
Beatrice Eriksson, the co-founder of Repatriate the Children in Sweden, told Middle East Eye: "Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen again an increase in reports of heightened violence, intimidation and night raids in Roj camp, with reports of hostile night raids where women are being beaten, people are taken away from the camp to other detention facilities and children being exposed to violence.”
'Every night is painful'
For many women in the Roj camp, the fear is not only of what has happened, but of what might happen next.
According to the report, women had regularly reported since January that nightly raids by guards had created "a constant state of anticipation and distress".
“Every night it’s the same. We don’t know whether they will enter upon us, and we are always afraid. They are pointing guns at women... hoping they don’t enter our tents next. Until the car leaves, emotions are uncontrollable, heart beating, legs quivering from fear,” one woman said.
Many described living under constant threat, saying they were too afraid to leave their tents during security operations after being warned they could be killed if they did.
“Today, the military told us that if they shout into the megaphone, not to come out, so that we do not leave the tents, otherwise the sniper on the tower will shoot at us.”
Testimonies also reveal that recent developments have further intensified the psychological impact on captives, particularly due to direct death threats against families.
Women reported other forms of mistreatment, including detainees having cold water poured over them “to make them freeze further in the cold winter conditions” and being subjected to verbal abuse by camp personnel.
According to testimonies gathered by RTC, detainees were told: "There are no human rights" and "See if your God can save you now".
One woman linked the deterioration in conditions to the wider instability that followed the SDF's territorial losses earlier this year as the new government in Damascus under President Ahmed al-Sharaa re-exerted control over areas of the country which had been administered by the Kurdish authorities for much of Syria's civil war.
"It is like they are taking out all of their frustration on us," she said. "And we cannot do anything to protect ourselves."
MEE has contacted the Syrian government and Kurdish officials to ask for comment.
Women also reported that security raids frequently went beyond detentions and physical abuse, with testimonies describing regular confiscation or theft of personal belongings such as money, phones, and other possessions during searches.
Many women recounted how their tents and homes were ransacked, property was damaged, and acts of intimidation were common, leaving detainees in a state of fear and anxiety.
"The night before, the car came outside my tent. They entered my neighbour's tent, they took her to the house and beat her," a women said.
"We were just silent, waiting for the car to go. It was an awful night. I heard the woman when she was back; she cried so loudly. The next morning, I saw her tent, and I was in shock. They damaged it all. They took her money and her phone," she added.
"Last night they robbed the tents again, took out everything, carpets, blankets, wardrobes, even food," she said. "Some were beaten again and demanded a phone."
Such incidents contributed to a growing sense of insecurity throughout the camp, with many fearing they could be targeted next.
"You don't know if you will be their next victim. Honestly, I've never experienced fear like this before," a woman said.
Another woman recounted what she said was a raid on a neighbour who operated a small shop inside the camp.
"They went inside a neighbour who has a little shop. Put her kids against the wall, put a gun to her head and asked her to give them her phone," she said. "She stayed calm."
Alongside security concerns, women reported a deterioration in living conditions and access to basic services. Testimonies describe worsening electricity shortages, inadequate healthcare and growing concerns about the camp's ability to meet residents' basic needs.
"Everyone is sitting in tents. There is no electricity. The generator that gave electricity was taken away," one woman said. "The whole camp raised money for this generator... but it was stolen."
Women said the worsening conditions were having an increasing impact on their physical and mental health.
"Our health is deteriorating because of this... sometimes I can't get up in the morning".
“They are destroying our mental health, [the] majority [of] women here needs psychological care - this humiliation, belittlement, mockery has affected us mentally.”
One woman claimed that a French woman detained at the camp had died in April after being denied medical treatment.
"She was complaining of severe headaches and pain. They told her to go back to her tent. In the afternoon, she had a heart attack and died," the woman recalled.
For many women, the psychological impact of the past months has been as severe as the physical hardships, with detainees describing a daily existence shaped by fear, insecurity, and unpredictability.
"It's a horror movie. Live horror movie. We're living through it," a woman said.
“I am very tired of living in fear and anxiety. Every night is painful," another added.
Almost two-thirds of detainees in Roj camp are children (Repatriate the Children)
A childhood behind fences
Children make up the majority of Roj camp's population, accounting for 63 percent of the 2,324 people held there as of December 2025, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
The fighting and instability during the January escalation had a profound impact on children, many of whom were already struggling with years of violence, uncertainty and confinement.
One mother described the lengths families had gone to prepare for the possibility of death or separation. Fearing her children could be taken or lost during an attack, she wrote the contact details of relatives in their country of origin on their arms so they could be identified if the family became separated.
For many children, violence was not just around them. One witness described how a 12-year-old boy was sent back to his family with visible bruises from beatings and threats that he would be shot.
Another case was reported where the personnel entered a family's tent during a night raid and allegedly beat a mother and her three daughters, aged 16, 13 and nine.
"Her older two children were severely beaten. The mother herself was also severely beaten. With iron sticks. They took all the children with them," she said.
Several women described being separated from family members without explanation. Mothers were allegedly taken to detention facilities and returned days or weeks later, while others reported similar experiences involving children.
Some said family members came back showing signs of physical abuse.
“The military took him away. About 12 years old. He was kept for about two to three days. The child is stressed. There are bruises of beatings on the body... they told him they would shoot him,” one woman recalled.
Others said that children removed from their mothers were, in some cases, only returned after financial demands had been made.
For the families who hoped to get information about the children taken, queries were met with threats. Describing one such time, "we gathered and went to their headquarters... but they pounced on us. If you don't leave, we'll keep the boys for another 10 days."
"Children are being exposed to experiences that no child should have to live through," Eriksson said.
"We're not talking about a temporary emergency. We're talking about children who have spent years growing up behind fences. And it seems that the world has gradually become used to it and accepted this situation."
"It's very dark for many of these children because they're so young."
'It is a lack of political will'
For years, western governments argued that the presence of their citizens in camps such as Roj was difficult to resolve because the facilities were administered by non-state actors in northeast Syria.
That argument no longer holds, according to the report.
Developments since the fall of the Assad government and the January agreement between Damascus and the SDF have altered that landscape, creating new opportunities for repatriations.
"The reason why some states are still reluctant to take responsibility is a lack of political will, although these individuals de facto have the right to return to their countries under international law," Eriksson told MEE.
"We see now that the circumstances for repatriation of third-country nationals have developed in a more positive way than ever," she added.
Eriksson said the growing role of the internationally recognised Syrian government in the northeast should make it easier for countries to engage diplomatically on the issue.
"We're also setting our hope now on the government of Syria to actively participate in the resolution of this issue," she said.
"It's no longer a non-state armed group keeping these families. It's the government of Syria, an internationally recognised entity that has diplomatic ties with most countries in the world. The solution is on the table. It just needs to be implemented."
Eriksson also pointed to what she described as an inconsistency in how European governments approach Syria.
Many, she said, expect Damascus to accept Syrian nationals they wish to deport from Europe while refusing to repatriate their own citizens held in camps in northeastern Syria.
"There's a lot of hypocrisy", she adds.
The case for repatriation, Eriksson argued, is now stronger than at any point since the camps were established.
"Governments must just take responsibility for their own citizens. If anyone is suspected of a crime, investigate them. If they can be prosecuted, prosecute them. But children shouldn't spend their entire childhood [detained] just because governments are reluctant to deal with a politically difficult issue."
RTC's report frames continued non-repatriation as something that "perpetuates harm and generational trauma", exposing people to "regular violence, deprivation, lack of education and healthcare, and heightened risks of exploitation, human trafficking and recruitment to non-state armed groups".
"From a counterterrorism perspective, keeping individuals unlawfully detained under catastrophic circumstances is not risk reduction," the report states. "It is risk production."
Eriksson warned that this neglect carries its own danger. With the increase in aid being insufficient and some families unable to afford even basic medical care, citing a boy whose treatment left his family with a $1,000 bill they could not pay, mothers with no one abroad to send money are left exposed.
"Where states fail to take responsibility", she said, there is a risk these women "would seek other actors for help", including IS and other armed groups that retain an interest in the population. "We need to break this cycle of violence."
Roj camp currently houses 2,373 people, making up about 769 households and representing 54 nationalities, with the vast majority being third-country nationals who are neither Syrian nor Iraqi.
According to UN figures, children make up 63 percent of the camp’s population, women 35 percent, and men only two percent.
Despite the diversity and number of residents, only two repatriations have occurred since January, both to Australia, one in April and one in May.
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