ISIS-affiliated Australian Youth thought dead is detained in NE Syria- HRW
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Human Rights Watch recently released a report saying that an Australian youth named Yusuf Zahab, previously believed to have died while detained by anti-ISIS forces, appears to be alive in a prison located in Northeast Syria.
Yusuf Zahab was taken to Syria as a child in 2015 by adult relatives to live under the Islamic State (ISIS). In early 2019, he and his family were captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and detained in a prison in Hasakah governorate, northeast Syria.
Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding Zahab’s fate. In July 2022, his family announced his death and held a memorial service for him. Human Rights Watch also reported his death based on information from family members and sources close to the authorities in Northeast Syria. However, in August 2023, a video emerged showing a detainee believed to be Zahab.
The recent interview released by SBS further affirms his presence in the prison.
The HRW and his family are urging the Australian government to confirm his identity and repatriate him without delay. The Australian authorities have been criticized for their failure to locate Zahab for two years.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.
With the expulsion of ISIS in eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria, more than 10,000 ISIS militants surrendered to the SDF, and are now held in several prisons in Northeast Syria.
The prisons and camps, in areas held by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, house more than 60,000 ISIS militants and family members from 58 Arabic and foreign countries. Their fate remains undetermined until now, and no country or international human rights organization has adopted the file of their trail or their repatriation to their countries.