UNICEF calls on member states to repatriate nationals from NE Syria

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called for repatriating foreign children from northeast Syria to keep them away from any harm.

This came in tandem with the security unrest the al-Sina’a prison that houses 5,000 ISIS members in Hasakah city, northeast Syria, has witnessed since January 20. 

“There are more than 850 children, no more than 12 years old, in Guweran prison, and the lives of these children are at risk as a result of the escalation of violence in Hasakah following the ISIS attack on a prison in Hasakah,” the UNICEF said following the escalation of the clashes between the SDF and ISIS in Guweiran neighborhood. 

“In northeast Syria, nearly 10,000 children from more than 60 countries and their mothers are in detention centers or Hawl Camp and Roj camps and they are struggling to survive amid increasingly dire conditions and the harsh winter,” the UNICEF added. 

It called on “all parties in the northeast and elsewhere in Syria to keep children out of harm’s way and protect them at all times.” 

“The clock is ticking for the children in the northeast of Syria. Every day counts and more collective action is needed now.” 

Earlier today, the SDF appealed to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to intervene to spare the children and prevent ISIS use them in military operations and surrender them to the security forces for their own safety.