Delivered at the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative on the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
On 13th March 2025, Defence for Children International (DCI) delivered a statement during the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. The statement brings attention to children deprived of liberty in conflict zones such as Yemen, DRC, Libya, Ukraine, and Palestine, and especially in Syria.
DCI demands that governments repatriate detained children in Syria and that states must recognise all children as victims of grave abuses of human rights instead of perceiving them as criminals.
DCI calls upon all governments to:
- Repatriate nationals arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria, prioritising
children with their mothers. - End arbitrary detention of children with alleged ISIS ties and uphold
due process. - Provide rehabilitation, reintegration, and family reunification for
children formerly associated with armed groups. - Implement UN recommendations on the UN Global Study of Children Deprived
of Liberty.
Read DCI Statement in its entirety here