YPG slams UN 'bias' after child abduction accusations

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The People’s Protection Units (YPG) has slammed United Nations (UN) "bias" after it issued a report that accused the group of child recruitment and abduction.

The YPG "firmly denies the claims and related figures found in the mentioned report about the number of violations … Our forces have extremely strict regulations and a sensitive observation mechanism aimed at preventing anyone under the age of 18 from joining our ranks,” YPG spokesperson Nuri Mahmoud said in a statement on Monday.

It also condemned “UN monitoring and reporting offices and individuals responsible for investigations and observations in the Autonomous Administration areas in northeast Syria [NES, or Rojava], as it is a biased mechanism in its assessments."

The YPG is the backbone of the multi-ethnic Syrian Democratic Forces, the main coalition ally fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.

A UN report published in May accused the YPG and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) of abducting 17 children for various reasons, including military recruitment. They also accused internal security forces (Asayish) of abducting a child. 

Thirteen of those cases were ”related to the military recruitment of nine boys and four girls, of whom four were still associated at the time of writing, eight had been informally released and one had escaped,” read the report.

The report, titled “Children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic” covers the period between July 2018 and June 2020. The numbers for recruitment were much higher, with YPG having recruited 318 children, the YPJ 99, and other SDF components recruiting 37.

The multi-ethnic force has formally banned child recruitment after numerous claims it had minors within its ranks.

In January, three children were returned to their families after being recruited by the SDF. A total of 86 cases of child recruitment had been referred to a Child Protection Office in Hasaka in the last year, its head told Rudaw at the time.

Last summer, top SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed an action plan with the UN to prevent child recruitment and identify any minors serving within its ranks. A new complaints mechanism was established as part of that plan. 

More than 800 children were recruited to armed groups in Syria in 2019, according to UN Children and Armed Conflict data issued in June. The verified cases were attributed to components of the SDF, the Free Syrian Army, the Asayish, ISIS,and other forces.