We talk to Al Jazeera’s Nils Adler after a recent trip to the ISIL camps in Syria.

The al-Hawl camp in northeastern Syria’s Hasakah province, where tens of thousands of mostly women and children linked to the ISIL (ISIS) group have been living for years, on January 30, 2025 [Bernat Armangue/AP]

The ISIL (ISIS) group’s detention camps in northeast Syria remain packed with thousands of people, with al-Hawl alone holding 40,000 – mostly wives and children of suspected fighters. Recent Al Jazeera reporting offers a rare inside look at their reality. As Syria enters a post-Bashar al-Assad era, what will become of them?

In this episode: 

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Amy Walters, Sonia Bhagat and Ashish Malhotra, with Sarí el-Khalili, Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Melanie Marich, Hanah Shokeir, Marcos Bartolomé and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Kylene Kiang. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. 

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