Within two months, eight minor children were forcibly conscripted into SDF camps

ARK documented the kidnapping of eight minor children, during the months of October and October 2023, by groups affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces, such as the Revolutionary Youth and the Women’s Protection Units, in the cities of Qamishlo in Syrian Kurdistan and the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiya neighborhoods in Aleppo, with the aim of forced recruitment. Among the victims of forced conscription are Kurdish minors, an Arab minor, and those kidnapped as young as fifteen years old.

October kidnappers:

On the 7th of the month, the child, Saleen Iyad Mahmoud, 14 years old, was kidnapped by the “Revolutionary Youth” near the municipal stadium in the city of Qamishlo.
On the 17th of the month, two minors, Merav Adnan Khasho, 15 years old, and Simel Zidan Ismail, 14 years old, were kidnapped in the city of Qamishlo by the Women’s Protection Units.
On the 20th of the month, the child Ezaddin Bakri Na'asan, 12 years old, was killed by the “Revolutionary Youth” in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the city of Aleppo while he was returning home from work.
On the 26th of the month, Solin Ibrahim, 15 years old, in the city of Qamishlo.

November kidnappers:

On the 8th of the month, the 13-year-old girl, Sabriya Shiyar Misto, from the village of (Omer Samo) in the Sharan district of Afrin, was kidnapped in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the city of Aleppo. After media pressure, the Syrian Democratic Forces released her on November 11.

On the 16th of the month, student Aster Ahmed, (14 years old) from Rajo district in Afrin, was kidnapped in front of Salah al-Din Girls School in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.
On the 20th of the month, the child Omar Mustafa Hassan (13 years old) from the village of Ramadana in the city of Jenderes in Afrin was kidnapped in front of his house in the western neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in the city of Aleppo.

Previous kidnappers whose fate is unknown
The father of Redur Shaheeim, a minor child kidnapped by the Syrian Democratic Forces in the city of Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan, renewed his appeal to reveal the fate of his son who was kidnapped two years ago.
Aziz Shaheen, the child’s father, said in a post on his official Facebook page: “Years have passed since the kidnapping without knowing whether you are alive or dead.” Adding, "The most heinous crime against childhood is shame and disgrace to your kidnappers and the kidnappers of all children."
He said in a second post, directing his appeal to the “honorable people,” saying, “For anyone who has any information about my minor son, Redur Shaheen, who was forcibly disappeared by the SDF, contact me on the number 0935688626.”

The child's father was a guest in the Ark Newsletter on February 3, 2022. He spoke about the details, stressing that a PKK leader had kidnapped him under the pretext of training courses, but lured him for forced conscription. He appealed to all humanitarian organizations concerned with children's affairs to intervene and reveal his fate.

In Aleppo, the SDF-affiliated Revolutionary Youth kidnapped the child Issam Issa, from the village of Qitme in the Shara district of Afrin, on November 23, 2021, then released him on December 1 of the same year, only to kidnap him again later.
The child's parents said in exclusive statements to ARK: Their child, Issam, was kidnapped for the second time a year and seven months ago, and they know nothing about him, his fate, and where he was recruited.

SDF violates what it signed with the United Nations:

Although the Syrian Democratic Forces signed an action plan with the United Nations to end and prevent the recruitment of children under the age of 18 and their use in military operations, 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, the involvement of minors in battles Their recruitment is still continuing, amid neglect of the appeals of the children’s families and the calls of Kurdish activists, politicians and parties for the necessity of putting an end to this dangerous phenomenon that has, in one way or another, caused the region to be emptied of the Kurds.

United Nations: Child recruitment by SDF has increased by 80% over the past two years:

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, submitted a report to the UN Security Council on (November 27, 2023), covering the period from (July 1, 2020) to (July 30, 2022), and consisting of 6 sections, in which he talked about arming, killing, injury, sexual assaults, and other matters. Sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, kidnapping, and denial of access to humanitarian aid.

António Guterres said in his report that “2,990 children” were recruited, including “2,860 males and 130 females,” between the ages of 9 and 17 years, throughout Syria.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations confirmed that the Syrian Democratic Forces and other forces affiliated with the PYD administration recruited 829 children in areas under their control.

Guterres pointed out in his report that the Syrian Democratic Forces signed an agreement in 2019 with the United Nations under which they pledged to end the recruitment of those under the age of 18, and for this purpose opened offices in the areas under their control, but the number of children recruited by the SDF and PYD militants increased by 80%. “Over the past two years.

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