Three SDF child soldiers returned to families in Rojava

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Three more children were returned to their families in Hasaka, northeast Syria (Rojava) on Thursday after being recruited as fighters by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 

The independent Child Protection Office, in coordination with the SDF, was able to return three children aged 16-17 years old to their families in Hasaka on Thursday, its head Khalid Jabr told Rudaw’s Hevidar Zana.

The office was created last year and has an anonymous hotline, helping families to reach their children recruited by the SDF.

A fourth child, whose family has not been identified, is from Shahba – a town in Aleppo province surrounded by regime and Turkish-backed forces. Jabar’s colleagues in Shahba are looking for the child’s family, he added.

Eighty-six cases of children recruited into the SDF were submitted to the office in the last year, Jabr told Rudaw. More than have half of the children have been found and returned home to their families. 

“We are a legal office and deal with the legal side. When complaints are submitted to [our] office, we begin coordinating with the SDF members on the ground.” 

The multi-ethnic SDF has been criticized for child recruitment, but Jabr says the force works “seriously” to oust children from its ranks. 

In response to the claims of child recruitment, the SDF formally banned the practice. Last summer, its general commander Mazloum Abdi signed an action plan with the United Nations to prevent the child recruitment and identify any minors serving within its ranks. A new complaints mechanism was established as part of that plan. 

More than 800 children were recruited to armed groups in Syria in 2019, according to a United Nations Children and Armed Conflict report issued in June. The verified cases were attributed to components of SDF, the Free Syrian Army, the Internal Security forces, the Islamic State (ISIS) group and other forces.