The Secretary of the political committee of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Abdulbasit Abdullatif, emphasized that numerous verified reports from credible international human rights organizations confirm that the terrorist PYD militia continues to commit crimes against civilians in northeastern Syria. These crimes include the recruitment of children and the use of child soldiers.
In a press statement, Abdullatif expressed shock at the extent of the horrific crimes committed by this terrorist militia in blatant defiance of the international community, without any real deterrent. He added that the PYD militia continues to defy the world, refusing to change its criminal behavior or cease committing more atrocities.
Abdullatif lamented the ongoing support the militia receives and criticized international organizations for continuing to cooperate with it. He called for real international pressure to be applied on the militia to stop its crimes against civilians and to hold the perpetrators accountable.
On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that “a youth group in northeast Syria with links to the de facto authorities is recruiting children, apparently for eventual transfer to armed groups. Child recruitment robs children of their childhood, exposes them to extreme violence, and can cause lasting physical and psychological trauma.”
HRW stated that the Revolutionary Youth Movement of Syria, an armed group affiliated with the PYD militia, “has recruited girls and boys as young as 12, removing them from their schools and homes, denying their families contact with them, and rebuffing the families’ desperate efforts to locate them.”
After recruiting children and isolating them from their families, the Revolutionary Youth Movement subjects them to at least two months of intense ideological training, often directing them to join armed groups, including the YPG and YPJ. Some are even sent to receive additional military training with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Qandil mountains of Iraq, HRW added.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
