Wall Street Journal: Ba'ath regime separates hundreds of children from their families

An investigation conducted by The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Ba'ath regime forcibly separated at least 300 children from their families and placed them in orphanages under its control.

The newspaper, which based its investigation on secret documents and interviews with former detainees as well as an official from the current Damascus authority, reported that the Ba'ath regime intended to use these children as a means to pressure their opposition-affiliated families.

It noted that these children represent a small portion compared to the total number of missing children, which stands at 3,700. These children went missing either during arrests alongside their families or during mass raids and detentions carried out by the former regime’s forces.

Among them are the children of dentist and former Syrian chess champion Rania Al-Abbasi, who were arrested with her in 2013 following the arrest of her husband, Abdul Rahman Yasin. Their fate remains unknown to this day.

The newspaper stated that the Abbasi and Yasin families, Yasin having died under torture, have uncovered new evidence suggesting the children may be in orphanages, particularly those run by the organization “SOS Children’s Villages,” according to statements from family members.

The organization acknowledged that its branches in Syria received 139 undocumented children between 2014 and 2018, before being asked to stop these practices. It noted that most of these children were returned to the former authorities, but it could not confirm their current fate.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Yasin’s family has not stopped searching for their grandchildren, explaining that they began examining posted photos on orphanage websites, consulting with testimonies from formerly detained mothers, and using artificial intelligence to recreate the children’s possible appearances.

It added that the family conducted a DNA test on a child resembling one of Rania’s sons, but the result was negative. Nevertheless, the family continues its efforts to uncover the fate of their grandchildren.

A-H 

ANHA