Children of Ghuwayran: Time bomb that threatens Syria and neighboring countries

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned of the fate of hundreds of children in the Ghuwayran prison in the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, which is controlled by members of ISIS after clashes that took place over six days with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

According to a statement by UNICEF, about 850 children are among the targets of recruitment, stressing that it is worrying that they may become terrorists in the future, so the lives of these children are in danger.

In the same context, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warned of the possibility of a massacre inside the prison if there was no exchange and negotiation process, as it is believed that dozens of ISIS members are still hiding inside the prison with guards being held hostage, along with hundreds of children.

Dreadful fate

Thousands of children, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, are staying in two main camps in the region, along with others of other nationalities, according to Ardian Shajkovci, director of the American Counterterrorism Targeting and Resilience Institute (ACTRI), which has researched the issue of child victims of terrorism in Syria and Iraq.

Shajkovci added that there are more than 700 children in the Hasakah prison and 35 in another prison in the city of Qamishli, most of them Syrians and Iraqis, but there are also 150 foreigners, and these children are living a dreadful fate because of their mixing with ISIS, especially since their countries of origin refuse to receive them, while the relatives of the rest of the Syrian children have died during the battles. These children are being ostracized, and this matter makes them more likely to become terrorists than their parents, as they will have a strong desire to take revenge on society, so their fate is frightening and worrying, as they have not been psychologically rehabilitated.

Time bomb

Syrian political activist Rayan Maarouf said that the approximately 850 children in Ghuwayran prison constitute a great burden, because most of them are foreigners and their countries refuse to receive them, so they are like a time bomb that threatens Syria and neighboring countries, especially since they are between 12 and 15 years old, meaning that they are able to bear arms and carry out acts of violence.

In an exclusive statement to the Reference, Maarouf confirmed that most of these children are homeless and have no parents, and they are more vulnerable to extremism, because there is nothing that can compensate for their losses.