Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a UN Special Rapporteur, said a day after returning from the region that she was also concerned about the "snatching" of hundreds of boys from camps.
Their detention in camps, prisons and centers was "premised on the alleged threat that they pose to security based on their or their parents' alleged prior links with Daesh," she added, using a synonym for IS. The northeast of Syria including al-Hol falls under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces , a US-backed group. An official from the SDF-affiliated authorities that run the region did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"There appears to be no understanding that it is in absolute contravention of international law, to detain children in what appears to be an unending cycle of cradle-to-grave detention," she said. She also raised concerns about the separation of hundreds of adolescent boys from their mothers in camps based on the alleged security risk they posed. She did not say where they went but has previously said they went to unknown locations.