The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has documented the killing of 30,686 children in Syria from March 2011 to 20 November this year, with the former Syrian regime responsible for 76% of these killings, equivalent to 23,138 children.
In its 14th annual report, released on Friday, 21 November to mark World Children’s Day, the Network noted that 2013 was the deadliest year for children.
The report stated that SNHR has documented the killing of 226 children under torture during the same period, including 216 at the hands of former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, making it responsible for 96% of all documented cases of children killed under torture during the years of war.
The Network’s databases also show that 5,359 children are still detained or forcibly disappeared, including 3,736 children who were arrested or disappeared by the former Assad regime, making it responsible for 70% of the total.
The report indicated that 1,743 schools and kindergartens have come under attack, including 1,287 attacks carried out by forces of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a rate of 74%.
SNHR also documented 919 attacks on medical facilities over the same period, including 566 attacks carried out by regime forces, or 62%, which has led to a “deterioration in the capacity to provide health care to children amid harsh humanitarian conditions”, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
According to SNHR, the security services of the former regime transferred several children to care institutions such as SOS Children’s Villages, without any official documentation, which led to erasing their identities and tampering with their legal status and futures.
The Network called for comprehensive investigations into these practices and for restoring the identity and rights of children whose fate remains unknown, considering this issue a core component of the transitional justice process following the fall of the regime.
In 2025
SNHR documented the killing of 51 children in the coastal events in Syria’s coastal region, 20 in the Suwayda events (in southern Syria), and 18 as a result of celebratory gunfire up to 20 November this year.
Mines and unexploded ordnance have killed at least 107 children and injured others with serious wounds since December 2024.
The report explained that 7.5 million children need humanitarian assistance, noting that children in Syria during the transitional phase following the fall of the Assad regime still face deep structural challenges, most notably the deterioration of the education sector and the absence of basic services.
SNHR stressed that the effects of psychological trauma, poverty, the loss of parents, and weak social protection systems form major barriers preventing children from accessing their basic rights, despite declining levels of violence.
The report added that child protection during the transitional phase is a crucial test of the commitment of the new Syrian state and the international community to human rights and justice, as “no political process can be complete without uncovering the truth, providing redress, and guaranteeing non repetition of the violations that have destroyed the lives of entire generations of Syrian children”, according to the Network.
Arbitrary detention and forced recruitment
The report stated that the arbitrary detention of children is still ongoing, particularly in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), where detained children are prevented from communicating with their families and are subjected to harsh treatment.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights pointed to the presence of around 25,500 children detained in the al-Hol and Roj camps (in northeastern Syria) “in harsh conditions that amount to unlawful deprivation of liberty”.
The report added that the SDF continues to recruit children using methods that include abduction and direct pressure, including luring them from streets and schools.
SNHR affirmed that these practices constitute “a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international humanitarian law”, as they “expose children to violence, deprive them of education, and forcibly thrust them into the armed conflict”.
More than three thousand violations against children
The United Nations documented 3,343 grave violations against 3,209 children in Syria between 1 October 2022 and 31 December 2024.
In its report published on 4 November this year, the UN said the most common violations against children were recruitment and use, killing, and maiming.
The UN confirmed that the former Syrian regime, forces loyal to it, and allied militias were the parties most responsible for violations.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (now dissolved) ranked second, followed by the Syrian National Army (now integrated into the Ministry of Defense), then the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Frazier, noted that tangible progress had been achieved for children since December 2024, despite continued volatility in Syria.
She pointed out that “positive engagement with the current authorities gives Syria’s children a sense of hope they are in desperate need of”.
Frazier expressed “her support, and that of the United Nations, for all necessary measures to protect children, put an end to grave violations against them by all parties, and prevent such violations”.
The Special Representative also welcomed the Syrian government’s renewed cooperation with Syria’s international obligations to protect children, including the recognition of a child as any person under 18 years of age.
She also praised the Syrian government’s assumption of its responsibilities under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, calling on the Syrian authorities to ensure their full implementation.
Ongoing concern
Despite the improvement noted by the Special Representative of the Secretary General, this does not remove concern, as she put it, regarding the situation of children in Syria.
She pointed to the large number of children deprived of their liberty because of their actual or alleged association with parties to the conflict, including the so-called Islamic State group.
Frazier noted that nearly 25,500 children suspected of family ties to the Islamic State are being held in the al-Hol and Roj camps.
She stressed the need to consider children primarily as victims and to treat them in line with international standards for juvenile justice.
Frazier reiterated UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ call on all concerned countries of origin to facilitate the safe, voluntary return of these children to their homelands, in line with international law and with respect for the principles of non-refoulement, family unity, and the best interests of the child.
Frazier said, “The children of Syria have suffered immensely over the past decade and throughout the transitional period”, calling on all parties to release children from their ranks so they can be reintegrated into civilian life.
She emphasized the need for these children to benefit from reintegration programs that are tailored to their age and gender.
She added that she is counting on the international community to support reintegration efforts politically and financially, in coordination with the United Nations and its partners.
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