26. The legal question as to when a NIAC draws to a close – and whether it has entirely concluded in North East Syria – is complex and contested. There has in the past been a view – reflected by the jurisprudence of the ICTY – that a NIAC remains ongoing so long as there is any level of continuing violence, however sporadic, until a formal peace agreement is concluded.7 But the better and more widely accepted view is that, once the criterion of ‘protracted armed violence’ is no longer fulfilled, and there is no real risk of the resumption of protracted armed violence, the conflict will lose its classification as a NIAC under international law.8 The facts on the ground in North East Syria, following the effective defeat of ISIL in March 2019, lend some support to the view that the armed conflict has drawn to a close, but the security situation in the region remains uncertain and resumption of hostilities cannot be ruled out, as the more than 2,000 ISIL attacks in North East Syria from March 2019 onwards attest. Roj camp as of June 2020 Source: US Department of State, Humanitarian Information Unit Al Hol camp as of June 2019 Source: US Department of State, Humanitarian Information Unit 15 RIGHTS & SECURITY INTERNATIONAL