Terror group PKK’s Syrian offshoot YPG continues to kidnap children aged 13-15 in regions they occupy, according to the Syrian Kurdish National Council (ENKS).
"Our people have left the region due to their living conditions, the security situation and these abductions, and they continue to do so," Salih Jamil, ENKS representative in Irbil, told Anadolu Agency (AA) Tuesday.
He said the terrorists are forcibly recruiting, which has forced thousands of residents to seek refuge in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, Türkiye and Europe.
"Families are unable to return to their homes out of fear that their children might be kidnapped. In international law, this constitutes a war crime," he said.
The terror group also kidnaps members of ENKS, he said, criticizing the silence of the international community toward the practice.
"They closed and obstructed the venue where we last held our congress. We had to conduct it secretly in our homes. While we are a legal and legitimate organization, they operate outside the law and are illegitimate. ENKS represents Syrian Kurds in the eyes of the international public, and 144 countries recognize us," he said.
Jamil said the terrorist group prevents residents from returning to their homes. "At present, our people are still leaving the region due to their living conditions, security concerns and the ongoing kidnappings," he said.
The YPG/PKK, which took control of much of northeastern Syria during the civil war, detains or abducts young people and children away from their families and trains them in training camps to become fighters, which violates the agreement with the U.N.
Though the PKK/YPG initially signed a pledge with Geneva Call – a Swiss humanitarian organization that works to "protect civilians in armed conflict" – to stop the use of child soldiers in 2014, its use of child soldiers has only increased since then.
Nearly 1,700 children were recruited and used by the PKK – designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Türkiye and the European Union – and the YPG in 2022 in Syria, according to a U.N. report.
It said 32 children as young as 11 were also recruited and used in Iraq. International law prohibits non-state armed groups from recruiting anyone under 18, and enlisting children under 15 is considered a war crime.
"I am gravely concerned by the recruitment and use of children by the PKK. I urge them to end the recruitment and use of children and to release all children from its ranks," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report.
As many as 1,696 children in Syria were recruited used mostly by PKK/YPG and other armed groups and non-state actors. The PKK/YPG alone recruited and used 1,270 children of that total.
Locals living in areas held by the PKK/YPG have long suffered from its atrocities, as the terrorist organization has a notorious record of human rights violations, ranging from kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Syria.
Since its foundation, the PKK has forcibly taken at least one child from families that fail to "pay taxes" to support the group. To fill its ranks, the PKK has continuously raided villages and kidnapped young adults aged 15 to 20 through violent means.