The Committee for Revealing the Fate of the Sons and Daughters of Detainees, Female Detainees, and the Forcibly Disappeared has returned 200 children to their families, after years of their disappearance in care homes affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor or their placement with other families by official decisions during the rule of the ousted Assad regime. Meanwhile, the committee continues to search for hundreds of other children amid indications of systematic operations to obliterate their identities and change their names and lineages to hide their true fate.
According to official sources, the committee is continuing to investigate 612 other cases of children who were placed with alternative families under official contracts during the rule of the ousted Assad, amid great difficulties resulting from the loss of documents, changes in names and lineages, and the interruption of communication with the concerned authorities.
Investigating 612 cases of children placed with foster families under formal contracts during the rule of the ousted Assad
Samer al-Qarbi, spokesman for the committee investigating the fate of the sons and daughters of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons, revealed to Al-Quds Al-Arabi the mechanisms adopted to determine the identity of children whose fate is still unknown, especially in cases where names have been changed or official documents have been forged.
He said that the practical mechanisms adopted are based on a review of the basic records, particularly the books of the intelligence and security branches of the Assad regime, according to which the children were initially placed in care homes, regardless of any subsequent changes or falsifications of the official documents.
Al-Qarbi explained that research in the records of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor revealed the existence of 612 contracts for the placement of children assigned to other families.
He added that the committee tried to reach them through the information contained in the attachment contracts, including family names, addresses, and phone numbers.
He explained that the number of cases they have been able to reach so far is still very limited, noting that the committee is currently working on preparing a specialized team that will undergo intensive training in preparation for going into the field in various Syrian regions with the aim of tracking down the children and reaching them directly.
The most significant obstacle facing the committee's work is the loss of some documents during the first days following the liberation.
He pointed out that the most prominent obstacles facing the work of the committee are the loss of some documents during the first days following the liberation, in addition to the change of children’s names and lineages, as well as the difficulty of reaching the attached children due to the change of addresses and phone numbers and the failure to update contact data.
He stressed that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor relies on specialized teams in psychological support that include experts and specialized doctors to keep up with the children and their families during the stages of identification and family reunification, in addition to providing legal support through a team of lawyers to follow up on the necessary judicial and administrative procedures.
He concluded by emphasizing that the committee and the ministry will spare no effort in this matter, stressing that the issue of revealing the fate of the children of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons who were placed in care homes or given to other families will remain at the forefront of government work priorities until all the children are reached, their fate is revealed, and they are returned to their families.
Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Hind Qabawat, revealed a few days ago that among the children who returned to their families were 110 children who had been placed in the care of the SOS Children’s Villages Association, while 90 children returned from the rest of the care homes affiliated with the ministry.
Qabawat revealed a few days ago that among the children who returned to their families were 110 children who had been placed in the care of the SOS Children's Villages Association.
This development comes as part of the work of the Committee for Uncovering the Fate of the Children of Detainees, Female Detainees, and the Forcibly Disappeared, which has counted 314 children of detainees who were placed in care homes affiliated with the Ministry by the security branches during the era of the previous regime, and is simultaneously following up on 612 cases of children whowere attached to other families in accordance with Syrian laws.
Qabawat had announced on April 10 that the committee had managed to return 194 children to their families, stressing that a large number of files were still being followed up and investigated.
The committee was established under Resolution No. 1806 of 2025, and includes representatives from the Ministries of Social Affairs and Labor, Justice, Interior, and Religious Endowments, along with representatives of victims of enforced disappearance and civil society organizations, with the aim of revealing the fate of children who were taken from their families after their fathers and mothers were forcibly arrested or disappeared.
At the end of last April, Raghadah Zeidan, head of the committee investigating the fate of the sons and daughters of detainees, confirmed that the care homes affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor had documented 314 cases of children who went missing after their parents were arrested or forcibly disappeared, noting that the committee had been able, up to that time, to return 194 children to their families out of the documented number.
The announced figures do not represent the final tally, as the committee still expects to discover new cases as investigations continue.
She explained in official statements that the search for the remaining children who were confirmed to have entered care homes is still ongoing, and that the committee continues to scrutinize official records and documents to reach all cases whose fate has not yet been revealed.
She stressed that the announced figures do not represent the final tally, as the committee still expects to discover new cases as investigations continue and data is reviewed, noting that accredited organizations have documented about 3,800 missing children during the years of the revolution in Syria, reflecting the breadth of this issue and its humanitarian and legal complexities.Shocking results
At the beginning of this year, the investigation committee tasked with following up on the fate of the sons and daughters of detainees, female detainees, and those forcibly disappeared in Syria revealed initial findings that it described as “shocking,” relating to hundreds of children who went missing after their parents were arrested, confirming that systematic attempts by the ousted Assad regime to obliterate their true identities and change their personal data in order to hide their fate were being monitored.
During a press conference, Zeidan explained that the committee's main task is to investigate and search for the children of detainees, male and female, and those forcibly disappeared who were placed in care homes affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor during the years of the previous regime's rule.
She said that the committee was able to identify 314 children who were confirmed to have been placed in the ministry's care homes, adding that the search work at that time resulted in reaching 150 children and confirming their return to their families, while the committee was working to verify the arrival of another 50 children to their families.
She noted that the committee adopted several parallel tracks in its work, including collecting official documents, preparing special forms for the victims’ families, forming a volunteer team to track children’s records during the period between 2011 and 2024, in addition to allocating hotlines to receive reports and communicate directly with the families.
The committee adopted several parallel tracks in its work, including collecting official documents and preparing special forms for the victims' families.
She emphasized that the committee is not limited to field research and documentation, but also follows up on the judicial process and provides legal advice to child victims and their families. It also works to advocate for them by communicating with international bodies concerned with the missing persons file, in addition to creating platforms and pages on social media to help families search for their children.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry's representative on the committee, Samer Al-Qarbi, stressed the need to separate the committee's role from the jurisdiction of the judiciary, explaining that the committee provides legal support to the families of forcibly disappeared children by appointing lawyers and securing the necessary legal advice, but it does not interfere in the work of the judiciary or in related judicial decisions.
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