White Helmets rescuer carries an injured child after Russian-regime attacks on western Aleppo Province, January 16, 2020
The UN assesses that “millions of children in Syria remain trapped in a high-intensity protracted conflict and continue to endure a shocking level of violence, with little support available to survivors”.
The summary is in the third report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, covering the country from July 2018 to June 2020.
The inquiry says 4,724 “grave violations” have been documented, but the actual number is believed to be far higher.
The Assad regime and Russia have been responsible for more than 90% of the killings of civilians in the 122-month conflict, but the UN says an increasing number of parties — now at least 32 — have committed violations against youth.
In the two-year period covered by the report, more than 2,700 children were killed or maimed by airstrikes, ground shelling, and “explosive remnants of war”. More than 1,400 were recruited or used by at least 25 parties to the conflict, including recruitment and training before being sent to Libya’s internal conflict.
The UN also cited attacks on schools and hospitals, almost all of which were carried out by the Assad regime and Russia, with 236 assaults on schools and 135 on medical facilities. There were 46 attacks on 37 water facilities over six months in 2019, all but one in northwest Syria, with more than 700,000 people affected in access to clean water.
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The report notes that the critical humanitarian situation in camps in northeast Syria, where the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces oversees Islamic State detainees and their families. Of the 65,400 in the al-Hol and al-Roj camps, the vast majority are women and children. Included are 11,000 foreign women and children, including at least 960 unaccompanied and separated juveniles.
Most countries have been reluctant or refused to take back their nationals from the camps. Secretary General Virginia Gamba appealed:
Countries should facilitate and prioritize the repatriation of foreign children to their country of origin, in line with the best interests of the child. These boys and girls must be provided with assistance in reintegration, education, access to health and to livelihoods. They have lost a huge part of their childhood, and it is our common responsibility to give it back to them so they can recover and thrive in a safe and protective environment where they can build a future away from violence.
See also UN Officials Tell Countries — Repatriate 27,000 Children from Al-Hol Camp in NE Syria
