Badran Jiya Kurd: The threat of ISIS is increasing with every passing day

The presence of tens of thousands of ISIS terrorist members and their families in those prisons that are run by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the camps, which are supervised by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is considered to constitute one of the thorniest challenges and issues since the final elimination of the terrorist organization in 2019 until now.
The Autonomous Administration has called on the international community on more than one occasion to find permanent solutions to this dilemma and to develop long-term strategic plans without mentioned results. In addition, the Autonomous Administration repeatedly warned of the revival of the terrorist ISIS organization through the exploitation of the international community’s weak efforts and their negligence in providing political, military, and security support to the Autonomous Administration, amidst the increasing threat of ISIS, which primarily seeks to release its detained members and their families for the sake of re-controlling the region.
During an exclusive interview with the co-chairman of the Department of Foreign Relations in North and East Syria, Badran Jia Kurd, the Target media platform posed many questions about the continued presence of ISIS members and their families in the detention centers and camps, located in northeastern Syria as well as the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the region, in particular regarding the fight against terrorism.

The following is the full text of Target Platform’s interview with Badran Jiya Kurd:

How do you assess the continued presence of ISIS members and their families in the detention centers and camps, amidst the continued absence of any international solutions so far?

The presence of thousands of ISIS militants in the prisons of the Autonomous Administration, after the battle of Al-Baghouz, as well as the presence of thousands of children and women in the Al- Hol and Roj camps in this way and without any solutions so far, poses a great danger to the security and stability of the world and the region, as the international community and the International Coalition against ISIS have not fulfilled their duties and responsibilities concerning the issue of ISIS detainees and their families. From our point of view, the continuation of the struggle against this organization requires the finding of solutions for the militant’s legal prosecution on our soil within the framework of an international court and the creation of a positive climate for the rehabilitation and integration of children and women back into society.
This has not happened so far, which means that the camps and prisons are evolving into centers of reconstruction and reorganization of ISIS as well as the distribution of the group’s ideology.
Furthermore, children are doomed to grow up in the arms of extremist mothers, to create a new generation of ISIS members. With the continuation of this process, the danger of terrorism to further exacerbating within the region is steadily increasing. Therefore, the Autonomous Administration has been demanding for years the finding of solutions to this issue, which has exceeded the potential and energies of the Autonomous Administration, for both the prosecution of foreign ISIS members as well as the provision of protection and security for the camps and people’s reintegration into society through the establishment of special centers.

What is the appropriate solution to the issue of ISIS detainees in the region of North and East Syria?

In the face of this issue, we have not yet seen any positive approach from the international community. We recently witnessed the visits of representatives of many countries for the sake of repatriating their nationals that are ISIS affiliates. At any level, this is not sufficient for the solution of this issue, as it cannot be solved through sporadic repatriation acts of children and women, belonging to ISIS, as thousands of others will still be incarcerated in the camps and prisons for a long time, amidst the international community’s neglect of this issue as well as the increase of ISIS’ attacks and terrorist assaults in the region, which constantly experiences an exacerbation of its current situation in concomitance with ISIS’ attempt to revive itself against and pursue the ultimate goal of releasing its imprisoned members and re-forming its military strength for the sake of re-controlling the region through for the example the seizure of the Al- Sina’a prison.

ISIS also has a similar plan for the Al-Hol Camp, so that the threat of ISIS and its danger to the region and the whole world continues with every passing day. Therefore, a multi-faceted plan must be drawn up, in order to properly combat terrorism through the provision of political support to the Autonomous Administration as well as the increase of military and security support and also in terms of humanitarian economics and daily life services so that ISIS cannot take advantage of any grievances. All these aspects are considered problematic issues in the fight against terrorism, but unfortunately, the given support is so far limited to the military and security fronts, which does not properly serve the purpose of eradicating ISIS. Therefore, we in the Autonomous Administration renew our call on the international community to find a strategic plan in this regard so that the international coalition and its partners can completely eliminate ISIS.

Some countries have recently repatriated their national’s families, who are currently in the camps of the Autonomous Administration. What is your comment on that?

With regard to the repatriation of children and women of ISIS members, we as the Autonomous Administration are cooperating and are ready to communicate with every country that wants to repatriate its nationals. We have no problem in this regard, but we say that the solution does not lie in this approach alone, as an all-encompassing strategic plan must be drawn up, in order to achieve the final eradication of terrorism.

What is the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the region of north and east Syria, especially regarding the issue of fighting terrorism and ISIS?

According to our follow-up, after the development of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the international attention was completely drawn to this war, and we do not want our region to be neglected and marginalized due to the fully paid attention of the international community to this war.

In fact, North and East Syria has evolved into a center of counter-terrorism, and in this framework, the so-called caliphate state in Iraq and the Levant was geographically eliminated. Therefore, the neglect and marginalization of this region bears the high probability that this terrorist organization will resurrect itself and again pose a danger not only to our region but to the entire world. Thus, this requires the international community to have a special strategy and policy towards our region as any disregard would constitute great danger to the world.