Washington, DC — Last week, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, introduced H.R.4078, the Syria Detainee and Displaced Persons Act. Following devastation and destruction by the Islamic State, camps were created as a temporary solution to house detained and displaced people within Northeast Syria. As humanitarian conditions deteriorated over time, these camps have turned into long-term security concerns, fueling resentment and radicalization. Phillips’s bipartisan legislation would empower a Senior Official within the State Department to coordinate across governmental agencies and establish a unified US government approach to ISIS detainee and displacement camps in Northeast Syria, where tens of thousands of detained and displaced persons are still being held.

In the House, the Syria Detainee and Displaced Persons Act is co-led by Representatives Mark Green (R-TN), Seth Moulton (D-MA), and Mike Gallagher (R-WI). Sens. Jean Shaheen (D-NH) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced companion legislation in February.

“The deteriorating health and safety conditions in Syrian displaced persons camps need our attention, and they need it now,” said Rep. Phillips. “We have a moral responsibility to act quickly and act together to address the humanitarian, safety, and security risks posed by displaced persons camps within Northeast Syria. I’m proud to work alongside our allies and partners to facilitate the repatriation and reintegration of these people – many of whom were victims of ISIS brutality - safely into their communities and create long-lasting solutions to displaced people in Northeast Syria.”

“I’m proud to lead this bipartisan Syria Detainee and Displaced Persons Act with Rep. Dean Phillips,” said Rep. Green. “This bill will develop American national security and diplomatic strategy as it relates to detainees and displaced persons suffering from brutal repression under the Islamic State — something that is sorely needed in the fight against ISIS and Putin’s malign influence in Syria. It’s critical that we have a clear framework to repatriate the inhabitants of these camps.”

“The continued existence of crowded, unsafe displacement camps and detention facilities in Syria is an overlooked threat to the stability of the region and U.S. national security, in addition to being a significant humanitarian concern. Repatriation and reintegration is the only sustainable solution to both issues,” said Rep. Moulton. “At a precarious moment, we cannot allow these facilities to become the hotspots for an ISIS 2.0 resurgence, and we must protect the children who make up the majority of the population in these camps. This bill will support U.S. efforts to close down detention facilities and securely repatriate displaced individuals and ISIS fighter detainees to their countries of origin.”

Specifically, the Syria Detainee and Displaced Persons Act would:

• Establish a policy that the United States patriate, and where appropriate, prosecute, inhabitants of Syrian camps with the intent of closing them as soon as practicable;   
• Modify the FY2020 NDAA requirement for the ISIS Detainee Coordinator by:    
• Renewing the position through January 31, 2028;   
• Elevating the position within the State Department to the level of a Senior Coordinator; and   
• Expanding the mandate of the position to explicitly include all inhabitants of the camps, not just fighters and ISIS-affiliated individuals;   
• Direct the development of an interagency strategy on how to address the camps, with an emphasis on addressing acute humanitarian and security concerns, repatriation and prosecution efforts, and a framework to measure progress; and   
• Create a comprehensive, annual, interagency reporting requirement to detail progress consistent with the required strategy and stated policy.  

Full text of the bill is available here.