UNICEF visits Cubs of the Caliphate in Syria’s Hasakah prison
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) visited the children who survived the prison break in Syria’s northeastern city of Hasakah.
“Children should never have been there in the first place,” UNICEF said in a statement following the visit.
The children (Cubs of the Caliphate), some as young as 12 years old, are children of the Islamic State (ISIS) members whom killed or captured in battlefields. They are imprisoned in special child wings in the Guweiran detention center along with thousands of ISIS members.
On January 20, ISIS member cells attacked the prison to break the inmates out of the prison. ISIS detainees inside the prison engaged in a riot for nearly six days and refused to surrender holding Cubs of the Caliphate as human shield.
The UNICEF team headed by Mr. Bo Viktor Nylund, UNICEF representative in Syria and Natasha Stojkovska, director of Qamishli-based UNICEF Office, checked the special child wings inside the prison and checked their situation.
The team was accompanied by some members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who illustrated to the UNICEF team the field situation of the prison and the consequences of the attack.
“UNICEF continues to call for the immediate release of children in the Guweiran prison and all detention centers across the northeast of Syria and for handing them over to child protection actors,” UNICEF ‘s statement said.
“We call on member states of foreign children to repatriate these children urgently, consistent with their best interests.”
“UNICEF confirms it is ready to help support a new safe place in the northeast of Syria to take care of the most vulnerable children,” the statement added.
The SDF briefed to the UNICEF team the de facto situation of the Cubs of the Caliphate inside the detention center.
“Despite some of the basic services now in place, the situation of these children is incredibly precarious,” the UNICEF said.
It is worth mentioning that the UNICEF is the solo part of the united nations which was permitted to get access to the Guweiran prison since the events of January 20.
Reported by Sara Youssef