In early 1991, during the Gulf War, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees established a refugee camp in the southern outskirts of al-Hawl, which was operated in cooperation with the Syrian government. Along with another camp in al-Hasakah, it provided shelter to at least 15,000 refugees from Iraq. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent Iraq War, the camp was later reopened as one of three camps at the Iraqi–Syrian border, when an exodus of Palestinian refugees living in Iraq occurred due to persecution by the newly-installed Iraqi government. In the context of the Syrian Civil War and the takeover of al-Hawl by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the al-Hawl camp has come to be inhabited by more than 74,000 refugees as of April 2019. More than 40,000 of these people arrived after December 2018 in a series of massive civilian evacuations from the town of Baghuz Fawqani, fleeing the fierce two-month battle for the town between the SDF and ISIL. Conditions along the road to the camp, including in screening centers for ISIL operatives, have been described as "extremely harsh" with limited food, water, shelter and no health services. Aid organizations feared dysentery and other diseases could break out from the overflow camp. The UN stated that 84 people, mostly children, died on the way to al-Hawl from December 2018 to March 2019, mostly due to hypothermia. Around 500 families in the camp are family members of ISIL fighters, including a large number of foreign nationals. They are however kept in a separate guarded section of the camp after repeated violent incidents between them and other members of the camp.
Syrian Civil War
In the course of the Eastern al-Hasakah offensive of Syrian KurdishYPG, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants were expelled from large swaths of eastern Hasakah, including Tell Hamis and Tell Brak. The southeastern Hasakah countryside around al-Hawl however remained one of the last ISIL strongholds in the province. When in October 2015, the Kurdish YPG militia and their partners, including the Sunni ArabShammar tribe's al-Sanadid Forces, joined forces to form the Syrian Democratic Forces, al-Sanadid leader Bandar al-Humaydi made it an "immediate priority to liberate al-Hawl and Ash Shaddadi from the Islamic State.” In late October 2015, following the successful Battle of Hasakah, the SDF launched their al-Hawl offensive slowly advancing southwards from Tell Hamis. On 11 November they seized Khatuniyah and moved on around the lake further southwards to surround al-Hawl from both northeast and south on 12 November. On 13 November, al-Hawl was captured, in what was considered the SDF's first strategic success. In the following days, the SDF advanced further westwards to close the remaining ISIL-held pocket around the villages of Abu Hajirat Khuatana and Khuwaytilah.
Geography
The town is located some east of al-Hasakah, on the southern bank of the dried-out wadi‘Aţā Allāh. While the wadi has dried out, the spring ‘Ayn al-Hawl, located south of the town, still carries water. Nearby villages include Sheikh Ma'ad with the Sheikh Ma‘ad shrine to the north, just across the wadi.
