Speaker: Dr Doug Weeks, California State University Long Beach
Date: Tuesday 13 October 2026
Time: 16.00–17.30
Venue: Online (joining details will be sent on registration)
Registration: To register, email [email protected]
Abstract
This seminar will discuss the women and children from al Hol camp in Syria, and in particular what is needed to repatriate and reintegrate them. Repatriation is not guaranteed and fighting between the Syrian Army and the SDF prior to the ceasefire agreement resulted in many of those in the camp(s) being set free. The legal frameworks are complicated but nowhere near the security and rehabilitation challenges that are required for successful reintegration. The discussion will be based on interviews from those in the camp.
About the speaker
Douglas Weeks is a Senior Lecturer in the Emergency Services Administration and Criminal Justice graduate programs at California State University Long Beach where he teaches courses relating to emergency management, research methods, and terrorism. He is a seasoned researcher who specialises in understanding the human side of conflict, radicalisation, and extremism by developing new primary data through ethnography and personalised interaction with individuals considered radicalised extremists, terrorists, and Islamist ideologues they follow in the United States, United Kingdom, and Middle East.