Children recruitment | SOHR appeals to SDF and Autonomous Administration to stop recruiting children for military service immediately

Operations of recruiting children under the age of 18 continue in the ranks of military factions operating in areas under the control of “Autonomous Administration in northern and north-eastern Syria”, despite Geneva Conventions, signed by SDF and Autonomous Administration, regarding the prohibition of recruiting or using children in armed conflicts.

 

As the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights continues monitoring and tracking such recruitment operations, sources have informed SOHR that the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) recruited a 14-year old girl two years ago, despite complete rejection of her family.

 

The girl has been still serving in the ranks of Asayish forces in Al-Raqqah, despite ongoing attempts by her family to bring her back, but no one responds. Moreover, some members of Asayish forces threatened the girl’s family, if they persistently keep asking for bringing the girl back, to send the girl to “Qandil mountains”, while one of these members said to the family “even if she is an infant, we will take her and you cannot prevent us”.

 

“The girl is engaged in clashes on frontlines with Turkish forces and their proxies in north-eastern Syria,” SOHR sources added.

 

We, at the Syrian Observatory, renew our appeals to Syria Democratic Forces and the Autonomous Administration to stop recruiting children under the age of 18 instantly, and to bring them back to their families or send them to childcare centers, as military conflicts and frontlines are not the proper places for them.