Despite immense pressure, Syria has exerted great efforts to protect children found in areas liberated from terrorism
Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has stressed that the terrorist organizations and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) separatist militia continue to commit crimes and violations against Syrian children, including acts of killing, maiming, kidnapping as well as recruiting children within their ranks, in addition to the crimes of burning and destroying schools and hospitals, thereby hindering education and healthcare.
Al-Jaafari made the remarks on Friday during an unofficial online session of the Security Council held under the title ” Children in Armed Conflicts”.
He said that despite immense pressur, the Syrian state has been exerting great efforts to protect and provide care to children who were found in the areas liberated from terrorism and who managed to leave terrorist-held areas to government-controlled ones. He expressed Syria’s regret over how some countries deal with the children issue in the country and over ignoring the root issues and violations from which these children are suffering, mainly terrorism, aggression, occupation and the coercive economic measures imposed by the United States and the Eropean Union.
“What makes the situation even worse is the refusal of these countries to bring back their nationals, including the wives and children of Daesh terrorists, to their original countries” Al-Jaafari pointed out.
He stressed that terrorism is the most dangerous plague that ever hits societies and children are major victims of terrorism, particularly as they are recruited by terrorists and illegal armed entities as fighters to commit crimes and terrorist acts.
Al-Jaafari made it clear that the theater of the archeological Syrian city of Palmyra was a witness to a horrible crime committed by Deash-recruited children in which the children executed 25 Syrian soldiers. This crime was filmed and posted on the internet by the terrorists, but any of the social media networks did not delete this terrible content or block the accounts that shared it, which questions the double standard approach of these networks regarding the freedom of expression.
Al-Jaafari affirmed Syria’s condemnation of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflicts for signing the so-called “work plan” with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) separatist militia in the northeast of Syria in 2019, asserting that by signing and promoting this plan the special representative gave ligitimacy to the SDF militia, confirmed her bias and undermined any chance to cooperate with her mandate.
The senior Syrian diplomate indicated that a number of children have recently died in Al -Hawl camp in Hasaka during an attempt to smuggle them abroad in water tankers. This affirms that the only legal way for these countries to restore their child nationals, who are children of terrorists, is through cooperation and coordination with the Syrian government.
Three days ago, Syria sent a letter to the UN Chief and President of the Security Council, clarifying that delegations of some western countries, including the United States, Canada, Belgium, France, Sweden and Austria, have illegally infiltrated into the northeast of Syria across borders with neighboring countries without making any kind of coordination with the Syrian government to obtain an approval for their entry, Al-Jaafari said.
He pointed out that this behavior showed these countries’ disrespect to the international law, the UN Charter and the priciples of freindly relations among countries. It also exposes the children in the areas held by these armed entities to danger.
Hamda Mustafa