The United States State Department has expressed appreciation to the US-allied Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for leading the repatriation of two dozen Westerners from refugee camps holding suspected ISIS affiliates in northeast Syria. The group, predominantly children and wives of ISIS members, were repatriated to the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Finland.
“We are grateful to our local partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, for their leadership in addressing this complicated situation,” the State Department spokesperson said.
The SDF are the ‘boots-on-the-ground’ in Syria’s autonomous northeast region, partnered with US forces as part of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh (ISIS). Kurdish forces, including the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and People’s Protection Units (YPG), led the historic Kurdish resistance in the Syrian town of Kobani (Kobanê) in 2014, which led to the eventual defeat of the ISIS stronghold Raqqa (Reqa), in 2018. The SDF remains the most important counter-ISIS force.
The SDF are the military wing of the region’s government, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which is responsible for maintaining security in the refugee camps, a product of the war against ISIS. It is estimated that the camps Al-Hol and Roj hold up to 50,000 citizens of over 60 countries, the majority of whom are children.
AANES officials and SDF commanders have repeatedly called for enhanced international support, including both repatriation of foreign citizens and resource backing, for their efforts at the camps. The Kurdish forces work to maintain security in the camps, protect vulnerable residents from exposure to extremist ideology and free women from ISIS slavery.
Pressure on the SDF has reached a peak over the past few months, under ramped-up Turkish bombardments of the northern Syrian region. The attacks have severely inhibited the Kurdish forces’ ability to maintain control as a result both of an escalating humanitarian crisis as critical infrastructure is wiped out, and the killing of several SDF and other Kurdish military commanders, targeted by both Turkish and ISIS operations. SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi recently warned of an ISIS resurgence, calling for international intervention against Turkey’s attacks.
ISIS is expected to up its attacks against the SDF and regain strength having already expanded its presence in regime-controlled areas in the Syrian desert, Abdi said. ISIS exploits vulnerabilities created by the refusal of the US to formally acknowledge the AANES as an interlocutor in the Global Coalition, despite the US-SDF allegiance, the commander added.
