Hundreds of children kept in prison in Syria who faced a deadly 10-day battle between US-backed Kurdish fighters and ISIL (ISIS) live in “incredibly precarious” conditions.
As per the United Nations, they should not have been present there in the first place.
According to ‘UNICEF’, “they are all ready to support the new and safe place in Syria northeast to take care of the helpless children, in which most of them are young as 12.” Its statement on February 6, Sunday, came after the stay by one of its teams to the prison in the northeastern city of Hassakeh.
After visiting children at the prison, UNICEF members said they lived in threatening conditions for years. In that years, they suffered from the heightened violence in and around the facility.
More than 3,000 people in prison, of which 600 are children, are held at the Hassakeh jail.
According to the statement of UNICEF’s Syria representative, after getting the basic needs and services, the situation and condition of the children are still incredibly dangerous.
However, boys live separately from adults. The groups only got mixed when ISIL fighters stormed the prison in a jailbreak on January 20. Some prisoners ran, while others, including the child detainees, were taken hostage in the ensuing battle.
As per the Nylund, UNICEF is working hard to provide safety and care while calling on all stakeholders to urgently find long-term keys in the children’s best interests.
Nylund added that the children should stay away from the detention due to association with armed groups. Children associated with and caused by armed groups should always be treated as victims of conflict.
The International rights groups, including Save, the Child and Human rights Watch, last said that 700 boys were kept in prison before the operation removed the ISIL attackers.
Children come under age 12 and 18, some children are in prison, and their relatives are also there and were transferred from nearest displacement camps housing of child fighters.
Human Rights Watch said that Hundreds of boys were missing from the battle in and around the prison.