It's a notorious refugee camp in northeast Syria

where many of the wives and children of ISIS fighters

are being held.

The Kurdish-led forces who guard this sprawling camp

have struggled to secure it.

Hardline women have attacked them with stones and knives

and ever since the recent Turkish invasion,

some of the guards have been redeployed

to the front lines.

The fighting has weakened Kurdish

control across the region.

And now the fear is that the instability

will give thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives

the chance to escape.

We leave the area where the Iraqis and Syrians stay

and head over to the foreigners’ section.

Roughly 10,000 women and children from at least

50 countries live here.

These women had traveled to join ISIS

and many of their home countries

now refuse to take them and their children back.

We’d been warned by guards that the camp’s

most violent and steadfast ISIS followers

were to be found here.

But we were met with pleas for sympathy.

Some of the women were openly denouncing ISIS.

But their motives were not clear.

Are they truly reformed or are they just tired

of living in this place?

About two-thirds of the foreigners are under the age of 12.

There’s not much for them here —

no schools or even running water.

Across the camp, hundreds of children have died from disease and malnutrition

since the beginning of the year.

Even before the Turkish invasion of northeast Syria,

this camp was in crisis

— a breeding ground for the next generation of ISIS.

But Kurdish-led security was at least

keeping ISIS in check.

Now, as outside forces undermine Kurdish authority,

the question of what will happen

to these women and children

becomes more pressing than ever.