[Applause]
a Battle Hymn a song glorifying Death
and
violence these are the children of Isis
members they're growing up in a refugee
camp in rajava northeastern
Syria this is a violent environment if
you leave the children like here then
you can say this will be the next
generation of Isis Fighters Al Hol is
the largest of the camps in the region
and it's considered the most dangerous
in the world
World El Hall will turn into a ticking
Time Bomb for a further and future
terrorist organization in 2019 Kurdish
Le forces succeeded in taking back the
region from Isis rule but the militant
group remains a
threat we put an end to Isis control of
rojava but the organization and its
ideology still exist
here including in the prisons where Isis
terrorists have been held since the end
of the Fighting by the autonomous
Kurdish government that controls
Northeastern
Syria we have about 12,000 Isis
prisoners rojava's economy can't cope
with that on its
own the Kurds who live here feel
abandoned and they're under threat from
their neighbors for Turkish president RB
t Eran they too are terrorists turkey
has launched repeated offensives in
[Music]
rajava I'm a Kurdish filmmaker based in
Brussels together with gulan a Kurdish
journalist I'm traveling to rajava in
northeastern Syria after many attempts
we've finally been given permission to
visit some of the most dangerous places
in the
region we want to find out what the
legacy of the fight against Isis means
for rajava and its
people it's October
2021 we've just crossed the border into
Syria there's no mistaking how dangerous
the situation here still
is a suicide bomber has blown up a truck
loaded with explosives very close by
shaan our driver urges us to move on as
quickly as possible he fears a second
attack shaan used to be in the Syrian
Army during the Civil War he deserted
and fled to the Kurdish
regions there he joined the
militia he's our driver and bodyguard
and he's heavily
armed
are people here
peaceful who knows they're prover so
long as it's in control but they support
Isis if it came
[Music]
back our first stop is the town of
kamishi directly on the Syrian Turkish
[Music]
border this is the home of the
autonomous administration of Northern
and Eastern Syria as rajava is
officially
called not long after the start of the
Syrian Civil War the Kurds who lived in
the oil Rich Northeast set up an
autonomous region and declared self rule
but it's not officially recognized by
the government of Syria or indeed any
state rava is a thorn in the side of
Turkish president ER in
particular ilham Ahmed co-president of
its executive Council explains
why since its foundation in
1923 the Turkish Republic has denied the
very existence of us
Kurds the government is afraid that
recognizing Kurdish identity in Turkey
could weaken Turks as an ethnic group
divide the
nation here in rojava the native
language Kurdish is taught in many
schools turkey does not accept
that it's why it's fighting against us
it fears that the Kurds in Turkey might
then man the
same edan's main accusation is that
rajava and its militias are allies of
the pkk the Kurdistan Workers Party he
classifies the militant Kurdish Group
which is now based primarily in turkey
as a terrorist organization as do the EU
and the
US the pkk was active in rojava for a
long time in the 1980s the movement
spread here the Kurds in Syria were
oppressed at the time and had no
rights but Syria's Kurds now reject any
association with the
pkk today rojava is forging its own path
the at omous Administration and the pkk
are not the
same the Kurds here in rajava have
themselves long been threatened by
terrorism and were instrumental in
ending is Terror in the
[Music]
region we're on our way to meet NEOS
Ahmed commander of the Kurdish dominated
military iance the Syrian Democratic
forces the
SDF before we left we had to hand over
our mobile phones it standed practice a
precautionary measure since Turkish
combat drones began targeting Kurdish
commanders we put an end to is's control
of rojava but the organization and its
ideology still exist here it's still
active it's still carrying out Terror
attacks not just against Armed Forces
but also against
civilians we want to visit the territory
once claimed by ISIS before it was oued
by Kurdish Fighters we travel to Rua the
former unofficial capital of the Islamic
[Music]
State evidence of the destruct fight
against the jihadists is
[Music]
everywhere raka became the purest
example of this caliphate ideology Isis
had this public beheadings you know
these terrible pictures that reached us
from raaka they had a school system
where they were looking at the children
and the bright ones would may be trained
to become leaders later on and the not
so smart ones would be trained to become
suicide bombers in the
end they used raaka for their own
propaganda especially to the outside
world portraying this as the paradise on
Earth calling for Muslims all over the
world their Muslims brothers and sisters
to join the caliphate to build something
new that was how Isis managed to lure
tens of thousands of foreign Fighters
our driver tells us that rqa is still
unsafe and urges us to leave what's
become of the terrorist militia Fighters
after they were defeated thousands of
them were imprisoned in prisons like
[Music]
Alena to our surprise we granted
permission to film inside the
[Music]
prison the jail is a breeding ground for
Isis explains Commander
Jamal he also fought the terror
terrorists and is uneasy about our visit
the security situation is too tense he
says and we sense it too my hands are
shaking as I hold the camera the Roar of
generators is everywhere and the stench
is unbearable Jamal shows us around
suddenly he tells me to stop
filming a door opens and I see hundreds
of Isis prisoners crowded together many
of them are injured some are missing
limbs the space they're held in is
cramped beyond
belief I turn my camera back on as we
enter the infirmary there's just one
stretcher
here these Isis prisoners are doctors
they treat thousands of inmates in
return they have a little more space and
are allowed to live together in this
room we set up these prisons under
difficult conditions we weren't prepared
for what happened after the victory
against is in the Battle of baguz we
suddenly had to take in more than 5,000
is
[Music]
Fighters the Isis prisoners cook their
own
food Jamal warns us quietly not to get
too close to them he fears they might
attack us with boiling cooking
oil
we're taken to the main wing of the
prison where the inmates exercise time
in the yard is about to
begin Commander Jamal allows us to go up
to the Watchtower to
film gulan however is told to stay out
of sight she's not wearing a headscarf
and Jamal is worried this will provoke
the
prisoners most of foreign jihadists who
came to Syria via turkey to join Isis
how did you actually make the way to
Syria simple you just make your flight
to Turkey there's someone waiting for
you he will take you and then he will
take you over the border so it was
something very easy even the the gods
they were welcoming you they have
they're not stopping you they're not
controlling that was something which I
think was politically in the benefits of
turkey most of these prisoners have been
here or in other prisons in the region
for years
no one knows what awaits them amid this
uncertainty young men in particular
continue to
[Music]
radicalize a new generation of Isis is
emerging here these people have been
imprisoned for a long time they call
themselves ashal Al caliphate the Cubs
of the caliphate they were child
soldiers between 13 and 18 years old
when they came here
older prisoners indoctrinate them turn
them into committed is Fighters they are
extremely
dangerous I think the prisoners they
will have a reaction I don't know which
kind of reaction but it depend from one
to the other maybe one one he will he
will have a
Vengeance maybe one he will he will
become more uh more extremist you know
you know maybe some people they will get
crazy they will lose their minds in the
prison you know so it will create many
bad results you understand as more they
extend our uh presence in the SDF
prisons this will make more uh
problems our goal is to return the
prisoners to their home countries but as
long as they are here we have to make
sure the prisons are secure the inmates
often dig Tong to try and
Escape attempted escapes are
[Music]
common so far we've always managed to
thwart them we always discovered the
tunnels in
time you who are behind bars the most
important task of your brothers is to
free
we will never forget you how could we
liberating you is our duty and the
command of
[Music]
the we don't know how much longer we can
secure the prisons we have hired more
guards but that is not enough we need a
safer place a better monitoring system
until their home countries take them
back Europeans State use the legal limbo
in the RO to park their own jihadist
there you know and uh some states
especially my state for example Austria
uh are not willing to take the
responsibility for their citizens and
they hope that if they Park them there
they will somehow
disappear in light of the conditions
here some human rights organizations
have referred to these prisons as a new
Guantanamo do you think rajava will
become the next
Guantanamo no absolutely
not the prisons were set up while
fighting was ongoing we set them up in
former school
buildings we know that these fighter
home countries don't want them back but
that means these countries have to help
us create an international
tribunal or they have to pay the cost to
hold the is Fighters
here we have about 12,000 Isis prisoners
here rojava's economy can't cope with
that on its
own our visit to the prison ends
abruptly Jamal thinks it's too quiet and
something must be about to happen it
feels like the Cal before the storm we
have to live
leave we want to learn more about the
fight against Isis in rajava what tracus
has it left here we head to kobani near
the Turkish Syrian border it was here
that Isis was pushed back for the first
time the beginning of its downfall in
September 2014 the jihadists launched a
massive attack on the city but Kurdish
Fighters put up Fierce
resistance
ISM Hassan organized the defense of the
city Isis Fighters attacked us from
three sides we wanted to push them into
the city its narrow streets because
that's where we have the best chance
with the modest weapons we
had we learn that people here are
especially proud of the young women who
fought against Isis in rajava
the ypj are the women's protection units
so they are the female brigades within
the
ypg they had a very important role when
it came to the Battle of kubani because
these women are very dedicated they know
whenever they are being captured by ISIS
Fighters they would be violated they
would be raped they would be killed so
they were very committed in this fight
we meet one of
them Fatma lost an arm in in the
battle today she helped support others
wounded in the
fighting like many here she still
haunted by
memories they kept shouting if we catch
you we will eat you all the time they
were calling us names whether you like
it or not you cannot Escape fear in
battle and that is why you must turn it
into courage and face it head on you're
aware that the people who live here
depend on you if you give up they will
suffer they will be hurt that's why you
have to
[Music]
fight why was Isis able to become so
powerful in the first place and what
role did neighboring turkey play in its
rise when Isis attack the Kurds to take
over kubani turkey was standing by not
helping the Kurds because it was kind of
in their interest you know for years
turkey had led islamist fighters from
all over the world and jihadist fighters
from all over the world using the
Turkish Syrian border to come to Syria
to join the islamist groups there even
Isis so this is what we call the
jihadist highway in 2014 then us Vice
President Joe Biden commented our allly
in the region were our largest problem
in Syria and the Turks president erdogan
told me he's an old friend said you were
right we let too many people
through I ran the Isis campaign 40,000
foreign fighters jihadis from 110
countries around the world all came into
Syria to fight in that war and they all
came through turkey I was in Turkey more
than any other country to have them seal
their border and they would not do it
they said they couldn't do it but the
minute the kurs took parts of the Border
it's totally sealed with a
wall in September 2014 the US decided to
provide military support for the Kurdish
fight against
Isis it was an alliance against Terror
on behalf of all
Humanity that's what made it
unique no one ever would have expected
the Kurdish people's defense units and
America to join
forces
I think we can say we defended the
world if Isis had been successful here
it would have posed a grave danger to
the
world and that's why the world should
support us
[Music]
today in kobani alone more than 1,000
Kurdish Fighters were
killed
[Music]
we drive through an area where the
fighting continued long after the
initial
Victory it took 4 years to defeat the
terror
militias the International Alliance
played a crucial
[Music]
role so the Americans turned to the
Syrian Democratic forces
and the SDF is made up mainly by ypg
Fighters but there were some other
minority groups Christian groups uh
militias were included into the SDF so
they became the main Ally of the Western
anti-isis
Alliance in October 2017 they succeeded
in defeating Isis in
Rucka after four years of brutal
occupation under the so-called Isis
calipat raqa its capital is
liberated the Americans announced they
would train a force 30,000 strong to
guard the Syrian Turkish border to
prevent Isis from
returning Turkish president erdogan
reacted angrily and threatened military
action
sh America is building a terror Army
along our border
We Must Destroy it before it's
[Music]
created rajava now had to defend itself
not only against Isis but also against a
threatened Invasion by
turkey the Turkish Army bombed towns on
the border including
arrine the attacks claimed some 1, 500
lives and more than 100,000 people were
displaced but the Kurdish majority
militias continued to fight in March
2019 with the help of air strikes
carried out by International Coalition
forces buuz the last Isis stronghold was
[Music]
captured General nus General muslum
commander of the Syrian Democratic
forces I'd like to offer a statement on
behalf of the government of the United
States we congratulate the Syrian people
and particularly the Syrian Democratic
forces on the destruction of isis's
fraudulent caliphate and for the
liberation of isis's remaining territory
in eastern
Syria turkey continued to threaten
attacks on rajava and called on the US
Army to
withdraw at the UN in New York president
presented his plan for what he called a
peace Corridor in Northern Syria an
attempt to control an area that makes up
a large part of
[Music]
rava we must eliminate the pkk ypg
terrorist organization in Syria their
territories cover a quarter of Syrian
territory these are ruled by a group
that someone to decriminalize under the
name Syrian Democratic
forces we are proposing to create a
peace Corridor 30 km wide and 480 km
long and resettle 2 million syrians from
Turkey there with the support of the
International
Community the idea of creating this
security Zone alongside the Turkish
Syrian border serves a double goal first
of all he wants to contain Kurdish
autonomy on the Syrian side of the
border the second goal is to resettle
Syrian refugees inside Syria because
turkey has taken in almost 4 million
Syrian refugees it's a huge burden on
the society the idea is if he controls
these border areas he can send some
million syrians back to these areas
which would mean that you have some kind
of an ethnic cleansing there because
these areas were inhabitated by Kurdish
population tens of thousands of them had
to flee from the Turkish interventions
before and now he wants to resettle
mainly Arab syrians to that area which
would definitely not help within the
Syrian Society to reconcile and to live
together
peacefully in October 2019 US troops
made a surprise withdrawal from rajava
on then president Trump's
orders
the move left people in the region
desperate suddenly they just left people
said we Kurds have been betrayed again
it should not have happened America had
the power to assert itself against
turkey for the sake of all the victims
21,000 soldiers of the Syrian Democratic
forces and not one American Soldier was
injured that's the state we were
in immediately after the withdrawal of
US troops turkey launched its third
invasion of rajava dubbed operation
peace Spring by
erdogan according to the UN more than
100,000 people were
displaced
today many of them still live in refugee
camps inside their own
country the wasani camp is home to some
16,000 internally displaced
people the Turks attacked us we were
homeless and flaty with our
[Music]
children our children are growing up in
a Wilderness we live like dogs
here
[Music]
there are eight of these refugee camps
in the region the UN hasn't yet supplied
any Aid to the camps the Syrian regime
is blocking it the UN can only help
through the Syrian government which
prevents aid from reaching these refugee
camps
[Music]
these people are not even recognized as
refugees they're getting no help
whatsoever even though they have lost
everything it is an
atrocity the full extent of the problems
rajava is facing is becoming clear to us
but how exactly can the West contribute
to Greater security and stability in the
region back in kamishi we ask Abdul Kim
[Music]
Omar we the autonomous Administration
have called on the Western Alliance to
establish an international tribunal it
should be here in northeastern Syria
because Isis terrorists committed their
crimes against the people of this region
but unfortunately everyone has abandoned
us and we've been left to deal with the
problem alone it's a ticking Time Bomb a
luming
catastrophe a time bomb he says that's
also ticking in the camps where the
wives children widows and Orphans of
Isis Fighters live in alal there are
well over 50,000 of them all of whom are
unable to
[Music]
leave
it couldn't be any worse the alh camp is
the most dangerous camp in the world a
breeding ground for a new generation of
terrorists we have no control over the
camp it's controlled by
ISIS we make our way to Al Hall we've
been given permission to film but when
we arrive the guards tell us it's too
dangerous before they can let us into
the camp they have to find an armed
escort for us and that will take a
while in the meantime we're allowed to
drive through the camp in the
car in a matter of minutes little boys
gather around the car calling us names
swearing at us and throwing stones
this is a brutal place to grow up it's
steeped in the violent ideology of
Isis a Kurdish guard who does not want
to be filmed tells us that the young
children in the camp make gestures at
her as if they'll slit her
throat they shout at her that she's an
Infidel and that they will avenge the
death of their parents
the children begin to chant an is Battle
Hymn they seeing that one day they
themselves will also become jihadists
and sacrifice their lives for the
prophet we have to leave alh for now we
drive to Camp Ro 3 hours away we're
allowed to film here and some residents
have agreed to talk to
us the camp is divided in two one is
occupied by extremist women some of whom
have carried out attacks themselves the
other houses families who don't belong
to Isis or have renounced its
ideology I made a big
mistake I was wrong to come to
Syria our countries should take us back
so that we can start a new
[Music]
life this is wead she tells us that she
took off her veil on International
women's day women who take off the nikab
are threatened with being burned
alive wead has four young children by
two jihadist fathers this Camp is no
place for children there's no education
this is a violent environment and is
nothing for the children no um
activities so
children if you leave the children like
here then you can say this will be the
next generation of Isis
Fighters many children are smuggled out
of the camp and given to
Isis this is how they recruit child
soldiers it's hard but I tried to
protect my son from The Radical
extremist ideology in
[Music]
the we're told that these women are only
a small minority among thousands of
captured is
women they see themselves as victims of
Isis and deny having been involved in
the crimes against Syrian and Iraqi
women and
children women loyal to Isis on the
other hand often hide children whose
mothers have died simply to prent vent
them from being placed in the care of
people they see as
infidels we drive to one of the
orphanages where children who could be
taken out of the camp
live we often don't even know the
nationality of the children we provide
them with a good upbringing and
education we can do that but worry about
their future what will become of
them they're all right here thank
God you take care of the
children yes I love them as their mother
would and more they shouldn't feel that
they're not
loved we make our way back to alh an
armed es School is waiting for us and
we're allowed to enter the camp with the
[Music]
camera alh is a known home to a large
number of Hardcore Isis supporters it's
reputed to be a Haven for Radicals and
Fanatics this is the most dangerous part
of our
trip El Hall has turned into a city and
it has has turned into a small caliphate
because it consists of three parts an
Iraqi Syrian and international part with
the most radical Isis members being the
Internationals now we are inside the
alall camp we're about to arrive at the
market our armed escort fad takes us to
the part of the camp where the foreign
women and their children live these
women have formed a Hardline group
we only want the law of God the Sharia
to apply all the children here are the
new soldiers of
[Music]
Isis you said that a dead baby was found
this
morning every day something like this
happens
here the baby was in a plastic bag in
the
trash many bad things happen
here a woman was killed they threw her
into the sewage
system so many atrocities happen
here come on let's go to the
market leave the car isn't that
dangerous
no that's why I'm
here
[Music]
this is the camps Market it's organized
by the residents
themselves you can try talking to them
but they won't
answer have they been forbidden to talk
to us
yes it is very difficult to control and
to contain the living conditions are
unbearable it's very dangerous to leave
foreign Isis members in that camp
especially children because elh will
turn into a ticking Time Bomb for a
further and future terrorist
organization that could reemerge from El
hor do you see the figures in
Buras some of them are armed
men they might suddenly come at you
shoot and run away
this is what
happens isn't it too dangerous for
us yes it's getting dangerous the market
is getting too crowded it's no longer
safe
here we know that the groups in Al hle
are well organized and are also
receiving orders from outside they have
contact with the outside and communicate
by cell
phone they get orders to attack and kill
people every day people are killed
there where the foreign women live a new
generation of terrorists is being
raised we believe that they'll be much
more dangerous than Isis
itself
from an early age they've been fed
radical extremist
ideas they're raised on a hunger for
Revenge the children are being groomed
to become new Fighters the people held
in the camps and prisons are making
long-term plans and they don't hide that
fact they say we're coming back and
we'll be even
stronger
[Music]
this video shares the message that the
Islamic State will live
on it shows the flag of the caliphate
flying in the
[Music]
camp unfortunately in all of this turkey
is helping Isis the
most
there are many illegal cells that help
people escape from the
camps oh every day there are attempts to
escape from the camps those who succeed
flee to
Turkey often they're smuggled out with
turkey's
[Music]
help in response turkey says it only
helps people who need to be rescued
leave alh its domestic intelligence
service only comes to the rescue of
foreigners who want to be returned to
their home
countries our impression of alal is that
it's both a refugee and an internment
camp a threatening atmosphere was
palpable in the
camp rajava feels highly volatile the
legacy of Isis here in the
region
in January 2022 shortly after our trip
many people's worst fears came
[Music]
true two is suicide bombers blew
themselves up outside the Alena prison
videos from inside the prison circulated
on social media we definitely can say is
that this was a very well organized
Uprising and and it was an attempt
actually to take over the city it was
not just an attempt to escape from
prison while the Syrian Democratic
forces fought against this Isis Uprising
in
Haka turkey continued to use their
drones against the Syrian Democratic
forces so they even attacked Kurdish
units who were driving to Haka to fight
Isis
there in the end the Kurdish military
managed to regain
[Music]
control they weren't only targeting the
prison they wanted to create chaos in
alh and the HOSA and raqqa region Isis
referred to the second caliphate they
wanted to regain control over the entire
region
374 jihadists are reported to have been
killed in the fighting and many are
believed to have
escaped Commander Jamal the guard who
showed us around the prison is one of
the 77 prison staff who were
[Music]
executed and then we hear that zenab the
caregiver from the orphanage was also
killed in a Turkish drone strike
Turkish aggression is also increasing in
kamishi we ourselves experienced an
attack as we were
leaving after our return on September 20
2022 president Adan again addressed the
UN and again he stated that there's no
difference between the Kurdish military
and the terrorist
pkk our trip left us convinced that
there's a real danger of an Isis
Resurgence and rajava is being left to
deal with this threat on its
own what if the Kurds can no longer keep
Isis under control the repercussions
will likely be felt in Europe
too