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Moroccan Women Stuck in Syria’s Al-Hol Camp Wait on Visas to Return Home

Two Moroccan women at Syria's northeastern al-Hol refugee camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Two Moroccan women at Syria's northeastern al-Hol refugee camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Moroccan Women Stuck in Syria’s Al-Hol Camp Wait on Visas to Return Home

Two Moroccan women at Syria's northeastern al-Hol refugee camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Two Moroccan women at Syria's northeastern al-Hol refugee camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Filled with great hope, Moroccan women stranded in refugee camps in Syria, especially at the northeastern al-Hol camp, are patiently waiting for their travel visas to get approved so they can return home.

Al-Hol camp, located some 45 kilometers east of Hasakeh, is sheltering around 1,082 Moroccan women and children.

“My decision to travel was not of my own will. My husband threatened me with my children, forcing me to take this journey and end up living in this place,” Mahira told Asharq Al-Awsat about the story of how she ended up in the war-torn country.

Living in a small makeshift tent alongside her children, the 40-year-old Moroccan national recounted the details of how her life was turned around after her husband decided to join the al-Nusra Front in 2013.

“When I got married 2005, I didn’t notice any signs of extremism in my husband, who was also a Moroccan national,” she said, explaining that her spouse was later moved by violent content shared on social media.

Footage conveying the toll of war in Syria had influenced many sympathizers across the world.

“During the summer of 2013, without any notice, my husband decided that we travel to Turkey. After our arrival there, he informed me that he wants to enter Syria in order to join the al-Nusra Front. He later pledged allegiance to ISIS,” Mahira recounted.

Although she strongly opposed her husband joining the fight in Syria, Mahira was faced with threats that her children will be taken away, eventually making her cave.

“He knew how strongly attached I was to my children. He said he would take them away from me by force, so I agreed,” she noted, adding that she was also physically abused by her husband.

Complaining about the poor access to information and news at the camp, Mahira said that one of her daughters frequently visits an internet café to connect with their relatives back in Morocco.

Speaking about the Moroccan parliament’s initiative to repatriate nationals stuck in Syria, Mahira expressed cautious optimism.

“I hope this news is true, and we can quickly return home,” she said in a low whisper.

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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)

In deserted villages and communities near the southern Lebanon border, Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters have watched each other for months, shifting and adapting in a battle for the upper hand while they wait to see if a full scale war will come.

Ever since the start of the Gaza war last October, the two sides have exchanged daily barrages of rockets, artillery, missile fire and air strikes in a standoff that has just stopped short of full-scale war.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border, and hopes that children may be able to return for the start of the new school year in September appear to have been dashed following an announcement by Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Tuesday that conditions would not allow it.

"The war is almost the same for the past nine months," Lieutenant Colonel Dotan, an Israeli officer, who could only be identified by his first name. "We have good days of hitting Hezbollah and bad days where they hit us. It's almost the same, all year, all the nine months."

As the summer approaches its peak, the smoke trails of drones and rockets in the sky have become a daily sight, with missiles regularly setting off brush fires in the thickly wooded hills along the border.

Israeli strikes have killed nearly 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists, while 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Even so, as the cross border firing has continued, Israeli forces have been training for a possible offensive in Lebanon which would dramatically increase the risk of a wider regional war, potentially involving Iran and the United States.

That risk was underlined at the weekend when the Yemen-based Houthis, a militia which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran, sent a drone to Tel Aviv where it caused a blast that killed a man and prompted Israel to launch a retaliatory raid the next day.

Standing in his home kibbutz of Eilon, where only about 150 farmers and security guards remain from a normal population of 1,100, Lt. Colonet Dotan said the two sides have been testing each other for months, in a constantly evolving tactical battle.

"This war taught us patience," said Dotan. "In the Middle East, you need patience."

He said Israeli troops had seen an increasing use of Iranian drones, of a type frequently seen in Ukraine, as well as Russian-made Kornet anti tank missiles which were increasingly targeting houses as Israeli tank forces adapted their own tactics in response.

"Hezbollah is a fast-learning organization and they understood that UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are the next big thing and so they went and bought and got trained in UAVs," he said.

Israel had responded by adapting its Iron Dome air defense system and focusing its own operations on weakening Hezbollah's organizational structure by attacking its experienced commanders, such as Ali Jaafar Maatuk, a field commander in the elite Radwan forces unit who was killed last week.

"So that's another weak point we found. We target them and we look for them on a daily basis," he said.

Even so, as the months have passed, the wait has not been easy for Israeli troops brought up in a doctrine of maneuver and rapid offensive operations.

"When you're on defense, you can't defeat the enemy. We understand that, we have no expectations," he said, "So we have to wait. It's a patience game."