Displaying items by tag: detention camps

US forces have begun transferring IS prisoners out of Syria, moving 150 detainees to Iraq under plans that could see up to 7,000 relocated. The move follows growing instability after Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew troops from parts of northeast Syria, raising concerns over the security of prisons and detention camps holding thousands of IS members and affiliates. US officials said recent unrest allowed around 200 low-level fighters to escape one facility, though many were later recaptured. More than 10,000 IS fighters remain imprisoned in Syria, alongside thousands of women and children connected to the group. The transfers are being carried out in coordination with the Iraqi government as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of IS and maintain regional security. The changes come amid a wider political shift, with Syria’s new government seeking to reassert control after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. A ceasefire has been agreed with the SDF, which has been urged to integrate into the Syrian state, marking a significant transition in security arrangements.

The head of Amnesty International said China has created a ‘dystopian hellscape’ for people detained in Xinjiang camps, who are routinely tortured. A report based on 50+ former detainees details crimes against humanity - including mass imprisonment, torture and persecution - carried out by Chinese authorities against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities. The secretary general of Amnesty said, ‘China must immediately dismantle the internment camps, release the people arbitrarily detained in them and in prisons, and end the systematic attacks against Muslims in Xinjiang.’ Since 2017 hundreds of thousands - and possibly more than one million people - have been sent to camps in Xinjiang. China for a long time denied the existence of any camps. It eventually changed tack and now says the camps are voluntary ‘vocational training centres’, necessary to combat terrorism. President Xi Jinping said his government's policies in the region are ‘totally correct’.

130,000 internally displaced Rohingya trapped in detention camps in Myanmar have no future, with little access to land or livelihoods. They depend on foreign aid and die of treatable diseases due to limited healthcare. Shelters, built in 2012 to last two years, have deteriorated. Children only attend basic classes in temporary learning spaces. The authorities are using coronavirus response measures as a pretext to harass the Rohingya, who have told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that military and police forces regularly subject them to harassment and punishment at checkpoints. Police at a checkpoint made a woman do sit-ups for thirty minutes for not wearing a mask; she was then too exhausted to move. People must perform squats at checkpoints with their hands on their ears. HRW said, ‘The reality is dire. Oppressive and systemic restrictions imposed on those remaining in Myanmar may be indicative of ongoing genocide.’