Member of the Political Committee of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Abdelbaset Abdullatif, emphasized the crucial role of exerting real pressure on the PYD militia, which currently controls certain areas, as a significant factor in curbing its persistent practices of child kidnapping and recruitment.
Abdullatif underscored the recent UN reports that validate the repeated warnings issued by the SOC regarding the alarming consequences of the PYD militia’s ongoing forced recruitment and abduction of children for military purposes.
He further emphasized the urgent necessity of pressuring the PYD militia to cease its acts of kidnapping, halt the recruitment of children, and release all detainees and abductees.
According to the United Nations’ annual report on children and armed conflict, the PYD militia and its affiliates recruited over 1,270 children in Syria during 2022. The report also highlighted that the United Nations documented more than 2,407 serious violations against children in Syria during the same year.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highlighted the escalation of child rights violations in 2022 across various countries, including Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and Sudan. He specifically called for the immediate release of all children and an end to their recruitment in Syria, which witnessed a significant number of violations.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
