The United Nations documented 1,574 “grave” violations against 1,549 children by parties involved in the “armed conflict” in Syria during 2023, including four girls who were subjected to multiple violations. In its annual report on “Children and Armed Conflict,” the UN highlighted that 1,073 children were recruited by parties in Syria last year.
The report detailed that “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” was responsible for recruiting 477 children, the “Syrian National Army” for 282 children, “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF) for 231 children, the “Revolutionary Youth” affiliated with the “Kurdistan Workers’ Party” (PKK) for 10 children, while government forces and their affiliates were responsible for recruiting 73 children.
The report also indicated that 475 children were killed by regime forces and their allies, as well as by SDF forces and their affiliates. Furthermore, the report stated that over 800 children, including foreign children, remained detained by the end of 2023 due to alleged links with armed groups, including “ISIS.”
Additionally, 29,000 children suspected of having family ties to the group are held in “Al-Hol” and “Roj” camps in northeastern Syria.
In this context, Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, on “World Day Against Child Labor,” emphasized that Syrian children need “better opportunities, including safe education and environments free from conflict and violence.” Rochdi added on the platform “X” that child labor deprives Syrian children of their childhood, education, and future, placing them and their families in “inappropriate conditions for life.” She called for unity “at the national, regional, and international levels to end child labor in all its forms.”
