About 850 Syrian children live in “imminent danger” due to the ongoing violence in the north-east of the country.
Viktor Nylund, representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) confirmed that violence in Hasaka city and the storming of prison last week, has put the lives of nearly 850 detained children in real danger.
According to reports from Syria, some of these children are aged under 12 years old. More than 100 people have been killed and thousands displaced, during the current violence in Gweran prison.
“The children in Gweran prison are children, and they have a right to restorative justice,” Nylund stressed, calling for their release.
“The arrest of children should be a measure of last resort, and for the shortest possible period of time.”, he added.
Nylund stressed that nearly 10,000 children and their mothers who come from more than 60 countries are held in detention centers or camps in Syria and they are struggling for survival, stressing that children “are very vulnerable and urgently need protection.”
Nylund called on “all parties in the north-east and all Syria to keep children out of harm and to protect them at all times.”
Hasaka is located in the north-east of Syria and is under the control of the Syrian Kurds.
Syria has been witnessing a civil war since March 18, 2011, where the Syrian regime launched a ferocious crackdown on protests condemning human rights violations in the country.
