The Syrian Democratic Forces refuse to return a child conscripted forcibly from Raqqa.
The Syria Monitoring Network for Human Rights said that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), through the Revolutionary Youth affiliated to it in Raqqa governorate, kidnapped a 16-year-old boy with a terminal illness.
The Syria Monitoring Network for Human Rights learned through its sources that the 16-year-old Jassim Hussein Dhaher was kidnapped in the Saif al-Dawla neighborhood in Raqqa governorate about a month ago, and his fate is still unknown until now, despite his family’s review of all departments of the PYD administration.
The network confirmed that the child suffers from an incurable disease in its early stages, but the Syrian Democratic Forces refuse to return him to his family.
Although the Syrian Democratic Forces signed an action plan with the United Nations in order to end and prevent the recruitment of children under the age of 18 and their use in military actions, as the plan was signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, Mazloum Kobani, with the United Nations Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, during an official ceremony was held at the United Nations Palace, on June 29, 2019. However, the enrollment of minors in battles and their recruitment continues, amid neglect of the appeals of the children’s families, and the calls of Kurdish activists, politicians, and parties for the need to put an end to this dangerous phenomenon that caused in one way or another the emptying of the region from the Kurds.
