23 civil society organizations demand an end to child recruitment in northeast Syria

“Children must be returned to their families.”
Kurds demonstrate outside UN offices in northeastern Syria against the military recruitment of teenage girls, Nov. 28. 2021 (Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP)
Kurds demonstrate outside UN offices in northeastern Syria against the military recruitment of teenage girls, Nov. 28. 2021 (Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Twenty-three human rights, civil, and feminist organizations, in a jointly written letter, have demanded the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) end the continued recruitment of child soldiers in northeast Syria. 

“We, the undersigned organizations, are calling you in your capacity as the rulers of the area, to take serious action to quickly close the file on child kidnapping and recruitment. Children must be returned to their families and those involved in acts of child recruitment, which may amount to war crimes, must be held accountable,” read the letter. 

The letter was addressed to SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi and the co-chairs of the AANES, Berivan Khaled and Abdul-Mahbash. 

“The Kurdish Revolutionary Youth Movement/Tevgera Ciwanên Şoreşgerê continue to carry out widespread and systematic kidnapping and recruitment of underage children in the Autonomous Administration areas with impunity,” the letter underlined.

Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), one of the signatories of the letter, also said that Fouzah Youssef, the co-president of the Movement for a Democratic Society and the co-chair of the PYD (Democratic Union Party), and “all other relevant persons failed to respond to our demands.” 

Earlier this month, the Kurdish National Council (KNC) also called on the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to stop the recruitment of children as soldiers in northern Syria after reports the Revolutionary Youth Movement was continuing its recruitment of underage children.

Read More: Syrian Kurdish opposition group calls on SDF to end child recruitment

The KNC statement also called on the SDF leadership to return the abducted children to their families in accordance with the agreements it signed with the UN in 2019 and the international NGO Geneva Call in 2014.