Cubs of the Caliphate in northeastern Syria, a Case of Concern
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Inside the camps of Hawl and Roj in northeastern Syria live the most feared children throughout Syria, perhaps even the world. They are the so-called ‘Cubs of the Caliphate’ – children brought up in the areas held by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.
Most of these children have been indoctrinated with extremist thoughts, especially as the ISIS women in the camps would always teach them not to deviate from the terrorist group’s ideology.
North Press obtained, from a security source, on Sunday a video clip showing a child from the ‘cubs of the caliphate’ leading a group of ISIS women in prayer in Hawl Camp, northeastern Syria. The women wanted the child to lead the prayer because he is “the man,” the source added.
North Press has spotted several accounts of ISIS women persuading the cubs to give death threats to journalists and staff of humanitarian organizations in the two camps.
The two camps in northeastern Syria are homes for thousands of foreign women and children of ISIS families.
The Hawl camp is a home for about 56,000 people, 36,000 of whom are under the age of 18, according to the camp’s manager Hamrin Hassan.
In December of last year, the security services in the camp revealed a secret tunnel used by the cubs to hide from inspections and to take Sharia lessons.
About 25,300 children, 18,000 Iraqis and 7,300 from 60 countries, are stuck in the Hawl and Roj camps, according to a report by Save the Children.
In early March, Save The Children warned that it would take 30 years for the children stuck in unsafe camps in northeastern Syria to return home if repatriations continue at the current rate.
In October, 2021, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) opened Halat Center for the care and rehabilitation of children of militants, detainees and killed members of ISIS, at the eastern entrance to the city of Hasakah, northeastern Syria.
Perwin Hussein al-Ali, an official in the center said that the mothers affiliated with ISIS instill “extremist and radical thoughts in their [the cubs] minds.”