An endless stream of disheveled and disoriented women and children poured out of the backs of trucks at al-Hol refugee camp in Hasakeh province in northeastern Syria. Many were the wives and children of fighters for the Islamic State, and were among the most recent wave to surrender or escape from the last of ISIS’ strongholds in Baghouz, in Syria’s Deir Ezzour province.

The women had traveled for hours with their children, and whatever little remained of their dusty possessions collected in military-style packs, plastic bags, and rolling suitcases. From beneath black veils covering their hair and faces, and long, black formless sheaths commonly worn in places which observe a more conservative interpretation of Islam, some were carried out