Revolutionary Youth kidnaps a girl in the city of Al-Hasakah
Yekiti Media
Local sources in the city of Al-Hasakah, in Syrian Kurdistan, have reported that the Revolutionary Youth (Jwanen Shorshkar), linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, abducted the 12-year-old girl Zainab Abdulraouf Hamou, daughter of Mrs Rukn Ghanem, on 8 May, in an incident that sparked a wave of concern and outrage among the local community.
In a video circulating on social media, one of the girl’s relatives appealed to the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, as well as human rights organisations concerned with child protection, to intervene urgently to uncover Zainab’s fate and work to return her to her family as soon as possible.
This incident comes despite previous pledges regarding the protection of children from recruitment, as in 2019 Mazloum Abdi signed, alongside the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, an action plan aimed at ending and preventing the recruitment of children under the age of 18 and ensuring they are not involved in military activities.
Observers believe that such incidents form part of a recurring pattern which, in their view, aims to recruit minors and subject them to indoctrination programmes in preparation for their inclusion in the ranks of organisations linked to the party.
The girl’s family continues to demand to know her fate and her immediate return, amid growing calls for an independent investigation and for those responsible for the incident to be held to account.
