In Syria, Moroccan women and children hope for repartition

In the dusty sprawl of al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, hundreds of Moroccan women and children live in fear—malnourished, stateless, and terrified of what tomorrow might bring amid stalled repatriation efforts after the Assad regime’s fall.

“We don’t sleep at night,” one woman told activists from the Moroccan Coordination for Stranded Moroccans in Syria and Iraq. “If fighting erupts, we’re all going to die.”  

At least 476 Moroccans remain stranded in Syria, including 103 women and 285 children. The al-Hol and Roj camps house around 8,000 people from 55 different nationalities, most of whom are families of IS fighters.

The fate of roughly 88 Moroccan men imprisoned in Syria is even more uncertain.

“We don’t know if they are alive or dead”, Abdelaziz al-Baqali, a member of the coordination group told The New Arab.

Many of these women followed their husbands to Syria with little understanding of the war they were walking into. Now, they are left to navigate a maze of political inertia, as Rabat seems hesitant to take them back.  

The journey from Morocco to Syria and Iraq

The roots of their exile trace back to 2011, when Morocco, like many countries, saw waves of men leaving to fight in Syria.

The first of them arrived in 2012, some via Al-Qaeda in Iraq, others from Morocco and the broader diaspora.

Some were radicalised, drawn by extremist ideologies. Others were simply desperate young men escaping unemployment and poverty, lured by the promise of purpose and power.  

According to Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, 1,659 Moroccans travelled to Syria and Iraq.

Of them, 745 died. Another 270 were arrested upon their return under the country’s anti-terrorism laws, which allow sentences of up to 15 years for joining militant groups abroad.  

However, repatriation remains a politically and security-fraught issue.  

Many detainees remain under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), their fate tied to negotiations between the Syrian government and other regional factions.  

Moreover, Rabat and Damascus only re-established contact after Bashar al-Assad’s fall.

In February, the Moroccan king extended congratulations to Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, signalling a potential thaw between Syria and Morocco, which didn’t have the best ties under the al-Assad regime—mainly due to his support for the separatist Polisario Front, which is fighting Rabat over sovereignty of the Western Sahara territory.  

Still, negotiations over the detainees have stalled.  

“Whenever we contact Moroccan authorities they say there looking into their file. But nothing tangible yet”, said the Moroccan Committee for Those Stranded in Syria and Iraq.

TNA has contacted Morocco‘s ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs but no one was available to answer inquiries on this file.

The situation is no better in Iraq, where nine Moroccan prisoners face what activists call “inhumane” conditions. Some detainees have allegedly been tortured into false confessions. One Moroccan women has already been sentenced to life in prison.

“Her trial was a farce”, al-Baqali said.  

Moroccans who have returned from Iraq after serving lengthy sentences remain in a legal no-man’s-land.

“They have no documents from Baghdad proving their time in prison,” said the committee. “They barely leave their homes. (…) They are broken men.”  

Morocco’s security concerns and families’ hopes of repatriation

Security concerns weigh heavily on Morocco’s reluctance to repatriate its citizens from Syria’s camps and prisons.

Last week, Moroccan authorities have arrested several individuals suspected of planning attacks linked to the Islamic State (IS) and dismantled a terrorist cell accused of plotting attacks in the kingdom.

The government seems to fear that returning fighters—or even women and children raised in IS-controlled areas— would reintroduce radicalised individuals into Moroccan society and could pose a long-term threat to the country’s security.

However, local rights groups warn that inaction carries its own risks.  

The worsening conditions in camps could serve as a breeding ground for new generations of extremists. “Neglecting these families only fuels resentment and radicalisation”, argues the coordination fighting for their rights to come back home and face fair trials in Moroccan courts.

Today, inside the camps in Syria, malnutrition is rampant, and medical aid is limited. Children as old as nine have never seen the inside of a classroom, reports the Moroccan Coordination for Stranded Moroccans in Syria and Iraq.

With the country still plagued by political instability, families fear they will be caught in the crossfire.

“The Syrian file is a ticking time bomb and Morocco has to prioritise it,” urged the coordination in an interview with TNA.