SOHR renews appeals to stop recruiting children throughout Syria

Very reliable sources have informed the Syrian Observatory that military factions operating in SDF-controlled areas are accepting applications presented by children under the age of 18 for joining these factions.

 

Such actions oppose the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) which prohibits the conscription into the military of children under the age of 18.

 

Recruitment of children by these factions have ignited popular resentment, amid calls for holding accountable the individuals responsible for recruiting children, accepting their applications and driving them to military service in these factions.

 

The recruitment of children under the age of 18 is not confined to the SDF-held areas, it is spread throughout Syria from Tigris to Golan, From Nasib to Azaz, and from Al-Bokamal to Latakia. Such factions and military formations continue recruiting children disregarding the rights of the child and the international laws which criminalise involving children in military conflicts.

 

We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, renew our appeals to all sides and organizations concerned to stop recruiting children immediately in all regions of Syria, and to release and discharge all children servicing in the ranks of any military power in Syria. We also appeal to the international community to exert pressure on all parties to observe the rights of  children in Syria, especially since the war has deprived them of their basic rights.