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More than four years after the territorial defeat of ISIS, 60,000 men, women and children from more than 60 countries around the world remain in detention in prisons and camps in northeast Syria. This is an increasingly unsustainable security and humanitarian crisis, and while notable progress has been made over the past year, there is a long way to go.
Eighteen months ago, the Middle East Institute (MEI) and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence (ICSR) at King’s College London launched a concerted international initiative to place this issue back at the forefront of discussions around Syria and counter-terrorism. Since then, we have convened and helped coordinate major multilateral gatherings in London, Washington D.C., Malta and Vienna that have helped achieve genuine policy progress. As part of another similar gathering – bringing together senior officials from across the U.S. government and approximately 20 allied partners, as well as counter-terrorism, humanitarian, human rights and law enforcement practitioners and experts – please join us for a day of public panels to better understand this complex issue.
Further updates will be announced soon.
Conference Agenda
9:00-9:15am ET | Opening Remarks
9:15-10:30am ET | War in Gaza: Assessing Potential Impacts in Northeastern Syria & Iraq
Anna Borshchevskaya
Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Matthew Levitt
Director, Jeanette & Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism & Intelligence, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Andrew Tabler
Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Missy Ryan, moderator
Reporter, Washington Post
10:45am-12:15pm ET | The Humanitarian Crisis in Northeast Syria
Marianne Gasser
Syria Special Coordinator, ICRC
Anne Charbord
Senior Advisor, UN Special Rapporteur for CT & Human Rights
Letta Tayler
Associate Director, Crisis & Conflict, Human Rights Watch
Courtney Kube, moderator
Correspondent, NBC News
12:15-1:00pm ET | Lunch
1:00-1:45pm ET | Keynote Remarks & Discussion
Chris Landberg
Coordinator for Counterterrorism & U.S. Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS
Michael Gordon, discussant
National Security Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
2:00-3:15pm ET | Resolving the Detainee Crisis: Assessing Progress & Paths Ahead
Charles Lister
Senior Fellow; Director of Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs, MEI
Shiraz Maher
Director, ICSR
Mona Yacoubian
Vice President, Middle East and North Africa Center, United States Institute of Peace
Charlie Savage, moderator
National Security & Legal Reporter, New York Times
3:15-3:30pm ET | Closing Remarks