Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Syria Detainee and Displaced Persons Act”.
Syria Detainee and Displaced Persons Act
A BILL
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 to modify the establishment of a coordinator for detained ISIS members and relevant displaced populations in Syria, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Definitions
In this Act:
Appropriate committees of Congress— The term appropriate committees of Congress means—
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Financial Services, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
ISIS member— The term ISIS member means a person who was part of, or substantially supported, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Senior Coordinator— The term Senior Coordinator means the coordinator for detained ISIS members and relevant displaced populations in Syria designated under subsection (a) of section 1224 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1642), as amended by section 5.
Sec. 3 Findings; sense of Congress
Findings— Congress makes the following findings:
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) rose to power in 2013 and reached its territorial peak in December 2014.
After the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019, displacement camps began to house detained alleged ISIS members and families with perceived ISIS affiliation.
The al-Hol and Roj displacement camps, located in Syria near the Syria-Iraq border, now house a significant number of individuals affiliated with ISIS who live alongside other displaced persons.
The al-Hol camp currently contains approximately 56,000 residents—
an estimated 80 percent of whom are women and children; and
an estimated 50 percent of whom are under 12 years of age.
The al-Hol camp is severely underdeveloped, with ragged tents, primitive water and sewage facilities, and few healthcare facilities or safe spaces for education.
International organizations working in the al-Hol and Roj camps, including Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, have all expressed concerns about poor living conditions, criminal behavior, and death threats against volunteers at the camps.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, essential partners in the ongoing fight to achieve an enduring defeat of ISIS, and who are responsible for guarding the al-Hol camp and other similar camps, assert that they lack the resources to properly secure such camps.
The United States currently has troops deployed in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and support the Syrian Democratic Forces.
In 2021, 90 incidents of violence were reported inside the al-Hol camp. Syrian and Iraqi camp residents and at least 2 aid workers were killed during such incidents.
Nearly 8,000 of the residents of the al-Hol camp come from roughly 55 countries other than Syria or Iraq, but such other countries have been slow to acknowledge repatriation requests.
Learning centers in the camps have closed because of COVID–19. Lacking formal education, some of the roughly 28,000 children inside the al-Hol camp are being taught by their mothers and are potentially being indoctrinated with ISIS ideology.
The Syrian Democratic Forces operate 28 prisons that house approximately 12,000 captured ISIS fighters and supporters.
In January 2022, 10 ISIS fighters entered the Hasakah prison and sought to liberate the approximately 5,000 ISIS prisoners. After a 10-day battle, hundreds of ISIS fighters were able to escape, and their whereabouts are still unknown.
Beginning approximately on August 25, 2022, and ending approximately on September 18, 2022, Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by United States troops, conducted an extensive security sweep of the al-Hol displaced persons camp, arresting 300 ISIS operatives, confiscating explosives, and liberating 6 women who had been enslaved by ISIS, at least 1 of whom had been so enslaved since she was a child.
In April 2022, General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, Commander of the United States Central Command, became the first senior official of United States Armed Forces to inspect the al-Hol camp and Hasakah prison. General Kurilla has described the ISIS detainees as “an ISIS army-in-waiting” that “requires a whole-of-government approach focused on engagement with allies and partners.”.
The first trial on United States soil of a major ISIS figure occurred in April 2022. The ISIS terrorist was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the kidnapping and murder of James Foley, Peter Kassig, Steven Sotloff, and Kayla Mueller.
Sense of Congress— It is the sense of Congress that—
ISIS detainees held by the Syrian Democratic Forces and ISIS-affiliated individuals located within displaced persons camps in Syria pose a significant and growing humanitarian challenge and security threat to the region;
there is an urgent need to seek a sustainable solution to such camps through repatriation and reintegration of the inhabitants;
the United States should work closely with international allies and partners to facilitate the repatriation and reintegration efforts required to provide a long-term solution for such camps and prevent the resurgence of ISIS; and
if left unaddressed, such camps will continue to be drivers of instability that jeopardize the long-term prospects for peace and stability in the region.
Sec. 4 Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States that—
ISIS-affiliated individuals located within displacement camps in Syria, and other inhabitants of displacement camps in Syria, be repatriated or, where appropriate, prosecuted, and where possible, reintegrated into their country of origin, consistent with all applicable international laws prohibiting refoulement; and
the camps will be closed as soon as is practicable.
Sec. 5 Modification of establishment of coordinator for detained ISIS members and relevant displaced populations in Syria
Section 1224 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1642) is amended—
by striking subsection (a);
by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
“(a) Designation
“(1) In general—The President, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the Attorney General, shall designate an existing official to serve within the executive branch as senior-level coordinator to coordinate, in conjunction with other relevant agencies, all matters related to ISIS members who are in the custody of the Syrian Democratic Forces and other relevant displaced populations in Syria, including—
“(A) the disposition of such individuals, including in all matters related to—
“(i) repatriation, transfer, prosecution, and intelligence gathering;
“(ii) all multilateral and international engagements led by the Department of State and other agencies that are related to the current and future handling, detention, and prosecution of such ISIS members, including such engagements with the International Criminal Police Organization; and
“(iii) the coordination of the provision of technical and evidentiary assistance to foreign countries to aid in the successful prosecution of such ISIS members, as appropriate, in accordance with international humanitarian law and other internationally recognized human rights and rule of law standards;
“(B) all multilateral and international engagements related to humanitarian access and provision of basic services to, and freedom of movement and security and safe return of, displaced persons at camps or facilities in Syria that hold family members of such ISIS members;
“(C) coordination with relevant agencies on matters described in this section; and
“(D) any other matter the Secretary of State considers relevant.
“(2) Rule of construction—If, on the date of the enactment of the Syria Detainee and Displaced Persons Act, an individual has already been designated, consistent with the requirements and responsibilities described in paragraph (1), the requirements under that paragraph shall be considered to be satisfied with respect to such individual until the date on which such individual no longer serves as the Senior Coordinator.”
in subsection (c), by striking “subsection (b)” and inserting “subsection (a)”;
in subsection (e), by striking “January 31, 2021” and inserting “January 31, 2025”;
in subsection (f)—
by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph (2):
“(2) Senior Coordinator—The term Senior Coordinator means the individual designated under subsection (a).”
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(4) Relevant agencies—The term relevant agencies means—
“(A) the Department of State;
“(B) the Department of Defense;
“(C) the Department of the Treasury;
“(D) the Department of Justice;
“(E) the United States Agency for International Development;
“(F) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and
“(G) any other agency the President considers relevant.”
by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) as subsections (b) through (e), respectively.
Sec. 6 Strategy on ISIS-related detainee and displacement camps in Syria
In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the Attorney General, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an interagency strategy with respect to ISIS-affiliated individuals and ISIS-related detainee and other displaced persons camps in Syria.
Elements— The strategy required by subsection (a) shall include—
methods to address—
disengagement from and prevention of recruitment into violence, violent extremism, and other illicit activity in such camps;
repatriation and, where appropriate, prosecution of foreign nationals from such camps, consistent with all applicable international laws;
the return and reintegration of displaced Syrian and Iraqi women and children into their communities of origin;
international engagement to develop processes for repatriation and reintegration of foreign nationals from such camps;
contingency plans for the relocation of detained and displaced persons who are not able to be repatriated from such camps;
efforts to improve the humanitarian conditions in such camps, including through the delivery of medicine, psychosocial support, clothing, education, and improved housing; and
assessed humanitarian and security needs of all camps and detainment facilities based on prioritization of such camps and facilities most at risk of humanitarian crises, external attacks, or internal violence; and
a plan to improve, in such camps—
security conditions, including by training of personnel and through construction; and
humanitarian conditions;
a framework for measuring progress of humanitarian, security, and repatriation efforts with the goal of closing such camps; and
any other matter the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
Sec. 7 Annual interagency report
In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than annually thereafter through January 31, 2025, the Senior Coordinator, in coordination with the relevant agencies, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a detailed report that includes the following:
A detailed description of the facilities and camps where detained ISIS members, and families with perceived ISIS affiliation, are being held and housed, including—
a description of the security and management of such facilities and camps
an assessment of resources required for the security of such facilities and camps; and
an assessment of the adherence by the operators of such facilities and camps to international humanitarian law standards.
A description of all efforts undertaken by the United States Government to address deficits in the humanitarian environment and security of such facilities and camps.
A description of all multilateral and international engagements related to humanitarian access and provision of basic services to, and freedom of movement and security and safe return of, displaced persons at camps or facilities in Iraq, Syria, and any other area affected by ISIS activity, including a description of—
support for efforts by the Syrian Democratic Forces to facilitate the return and reintegration of displaced people from Iraq and Syria;
repatriation efforts with respect to displaced women and children;
any current or future potential threat to United States national security interests posed by detained ISIS members or displaced families, including an analysis of the al-Hol camp and annexes; and
United States Government plans and strategies to respond to any threat identified under subparagraph (C).
To the greatest extent practicable under the law and consistent with Department of Justice policy, an analysis of—
United States efforts to prosecute detained or displaced ISIS members; and
the outcomes of such efforts.
A detailed description of any option to expedite prosecution of any detained ISIS member, including in a court of competent jurisdiction outside of the United States.
An analysis of factors on the ground in Syria and Iraq that may result in the unintended release of detained or displaced ISIS members, and an assessment of any measures available to mitigate such releases.
A detailed description of efforts to coordinate the disposition and security of detained or displaced ISIS members with other countries and international organizations, including the International Criminal Police Organization, to ensure secure chains of custody and locations of such ISIS members.
An analysis of the manner in which the United States Government communicates on such proposals and efforts with the families of United States citizens believed to have been victims of a criminal act by a detained or displaced ISIS member.
An analysis of all efforts between the United States and partner countries within the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS or other countries to share intelligence or evidence that may aid in the prosecution of ISIS members, and any legal obstacles that may hinder such efforts.
Any other matter the Coordinator considers appropriate.
Form— The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.