Underage recruitment continues in NE Syria despite SDF-Damascus integration

Families in northeastern Syria say recruitment of minors by the Revolutionary Youth Movement and SDF-linked units continues even after a January integration agreement with Damascus. Two girls, Naziha Abdalo (aged 16 years, 11 months) and Yasmine Abdo Ahmad (16 years, 10 months), told their parents by WhatsApp that they had left to join the PKK/SDF; other cases include recruits as young as 13 and multiple teenagers taken from Afrin, Kobani and Qamishli. Relatives report being denied information at SDF and Revolutionary Youth centers, while monitors describe recruitment techniques that begin with cultural, sports or social activities and proceed to ideological training, noms de guerre, transfers to secret camps or cross-border training in Qandil.

Human-rights monitors and lawyers say such enlistment violates international law, which sets 18 as the minimum age for recruitment, and contrasts with previous commitments—like the SDF’s 2019 action plan with the UN and the recent integration deal that would place enlistment under the Syrian Ministry of Defense (which bars under-18s). Organizations including Kurdish Spring and Syrians for Truth and Justice document ongoing cases and call for dismantling recruitment structures, independent monitoring, reintegration programs and accountability; critics argue the persistence of child recruitment reveals gaps in SDF decision-making and weak oversight. as reported by Syria Direct