QAMISHLI: Children of foreign jihadists play football on a dirt field at a center in northeastern Syria that Kurdish authorities hope will help rehabilitate minors raised on Daesh group ideology.
More than 50 boys aged 11-17, some with parents hailing from Britain, France, Germany or the United States, live at the heavily guarded Orkesh rehabilitation center near the city of Qamishli, close to the Turkish border.
Opened six months ago, it is the first facility seeking to rehabilitate foreign boys in the Kurdish administered northeast, where prisons and camps are packed with thousands of Daesh group relatives from more than 60 countries.
Another center opened its doors in 2017 to rehabilitate young former jihadists.
The success of the centers are crucial to “saving the region from the emergence of a new generation of extremists,” said Khaled Remo, co-chair of the Kurdish administration’s office of justice and reform affairs.
Some of the boys wearing tracksuits played table football in one of the rooms, while others kicked around a ball outside in the sun, talking to one another in broken Arabic.
Once the boys turn 18, they will need a new rehabilitation program or for their home countries to take them back.
“We don’t want the kids to stay permanently in these centers, but diplomatic efforts are slow, and many children need rehabilitation,” Remo said.
Kurdish-led forces, supported by a US-led coalition, spearheaded the fight against Daesh in Syria, driving the group from its last redoubt in the country in 2019.
Tens of thousands of people, including relatives of suspected jihadists, have been detained ever since in the Kurdish-controlled Al-Hol and Roj camps, including around 10,000 foreigners in Al-Hol alone.
While girls are also in the camps, this rehabilitation center focuses on boys because they would be who Daesh remnants — now in hideouts in the desert — would recruit to fight if they could, Remo said.
Kurdish authorities have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens, but foreign governments have allowed only a trickle to return home, fearing security threats and domestic political backlash.
The boys at the rehabilitation center were transferred from Al-Hol and Roj, authorities said, as well as from the Ghwayran prison, where hundreds were killed after jihadists stormed it early last year.
Some with their heads shaved or wearing beanies attend classes in Arabic and English, learning mathematics, drawing and even music.
Inside one classroom, the boys fiddled around with crayons, one teenager drawing the sunset in shades of orange and pink.
Later that day, they were learning to count in English, repeating the numbers after their female teacher.
The facility also has dormitories, recreation areas and a dining hall, and the boys can play chess or watch documentary films and cartoons.
The center’s goal is to prepare the boys “to integrate into their communities in the future” and live better lives “in a normal context,” said Aras Darwish, who heads the project.
“Our goal is to offer psychosocial and educational support,” Darwish said of the center, which provides individual and group therapy sessions.
The boys are also encouraged to draw in order to express their feelings and deal with memories, he said, pointing to a room decorated with drawings of trees, cars and houses.
Save the Children in December warned that around 7,000 children of suspected foreign jihadists were “trapped in desperate conditions and put at risk on a daily basis” in overcrowded detention camps in northeast Syria.
Al-Hol is notorious for violence, with killings and attacks even targeting children, guards and humanitarian workers.
In early March, UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the swift repatriation of foreigners from Al-Hol.
“The worst camp that exists in today’s world is Al-Hol... with enormous suffering for the people that have been stranded there for years,” Guterres said.
He warned that letting this “untenable situation fester” will only fuel “more resentment and despair.”
Reem Al-Hassan, 28, a counsellor at the Orkesh center, said the program was working.
“We can see a big difference in the kids compared to when they first came,” he said.
“At first, some of them refused to take part in classes with women teachers,” she said, as jihadists had imposed a strict segregation of genders when they controlled territory in Syria and Iraq.
“But the situation is better now — we see gradual, if slow, improvement.”
Syria center seeks to rehabilitate Daesh-scarred foreign children
https://arab.news/yrx8p
Syria center seeks to rehabilitate Daesh-scarred foreign children
- Opened six months ago, center is the first facility seeking to rehabilitate foreign boys in the Kurdish administered northeast
Lebanon declares neutrality, bolsters embassy security amid regional turmoil
- Beirut condemns attacks on Arab neighbors
- Wassef Awada from Supreme Islamic Shiite Council confirms to Arab News Hezbollah’s support for just and protective state
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s leaders reaffirmed neutrality amid US and Israeli strikes on Iran, emphasizing that the country must be shielded from the region’s rapidly deteriorating security crisis.
During a press conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said while he could not completely discount the risk of threats against foreign embassies on Lebanese soil, his government had already put the necessary security measures in place.
Just before the US-Israel strikes began, Israel carried out strikes on what it said was “Hezbollah infrastructure” in south Lebanon.
Salam, who convened an emergency Cabinet session to assess the fallout, moved swiftly to calm public anxiety. “We have long been taking all precautionary measures,” he said, urging Lebanese citizens not to panic.
He confirmed that supply lines by land, sea and air remained open, that Middle East Airlines continued to operate flights, and that essential goods — food, medicine and fuel — were stocked for at least two months. “There is no need for queuing or rushing to pharmacies, supermarkets or fuel stations,” he said.
Salam said that he had spoken with the leaders of Arab states targeted in Iranian attacks on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar.
The Lebanese economy has slowed amid growing concerns that Hezbollah could become involved in the conflict in defense of Iran.
This anxiety has manifested in long queues at gas stations and pharmacies, as people rushed to secure fuel and medical supplies, fearing shortages if the country was dragged into a conflict it could not withstand after emerging from a devastating war with Israel.
The Association of Oil Importing Companies said that it had sufficient petroleum products in stock to meet demand for at least 15 days.
Earlier in the day, Salam posted on X, urging the Lebanese to “show wisdom and patriotism, putting Lebanon’s interests above everything else amid the dangerous developments gripping the region.
“We will not allow anyone to drag this country into adventures that threaten its security and unity,” he stressed.
Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, was expected to deliver a speech on Saturday but it was postponed due to “recent developments.” Last month, Qassem threatened in a speech to “defend Iran against any Israeli or American aggression.”
However, Sheikh Ali Al-Khatib, vice president of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, the highest religious authority for Lebanon’s Shiite community, stressed on Friday the Shiite community’s support of state sovereignty.
He said that Lebanon once had to take up arms as “a necessity in the absence of the state.”
“If we were forced to take up arms, it was in self-defense, and we paid a heavy price; our cities were destroyed.”
Al-Khatib said the Shiite community supported “a strong state that protects its rights, sovereignty and borders,” and called for the adoption of a national security strategy.
Asked whether Al-Khatib’s position was coordinated with Hezbollah, Wassef Awada, adviser to the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, confirmed to Arab News that his position was in full agreement with Hezbollah and its alley, the Amal Movement.
“Hezbollah affirms its support for a just and protective state that uses all its capabilities to confront external threats. This position is not subject to change under any circumstances, and the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council remains steadfast in its stance,” he told Arab News.
Awada said that most of the Shiite community opposed intervention in the war and that Hezbollah was aware of this. He added that the Amal Movement had also been clear in its support for the state.
On Saturday morning, the sound of Israeli interceptor missiles exploding was heard in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
The Israeli army dropped explosive devices near the Lebanese border and carried out airstrikes on Wadi Barghaz, the Litani River, the outskirts of Wadi Al-Dalafa, the highlands of Iqlim Al-Tuffah, and the Jezzine district.
These mountains and valleys, located north of the Litani River, are believed to host a Hezbollah presence. Meanwhile, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew over southern Lebanon, passing over Sidon and reaching the Bekaa Valley.
Israeli army said that it “attacked Hezbollah infrastructure, targeting launch sites and underground tunnel entrances used by the terrorist group to advance plots against the IDF and the State of Israel,” accusing Hezbollah of operating within this infrastructure to rebuild its power.
President Joseph Aoun stressed that “sparing Lebanon the disasters and horrors of external conflicts, and preserving its sovereignty, security and stability, are an absolute priority.”
He contacted the prime minister, Transport Minister Fayez Rassamni, US Ambassador Michel Issa, and Army Commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal. His office said that he had stressed the need for maximum readiness and tight coordination across all state institutions.
He called on all parties to put Lebanon’s national interest above everything else and pledged that the state, through all its institutions, would stand as the first and last line of defense.
The Foreign Ministry added its voice to the chorus, formally condemning “any targeting of Arab states,” with Foreign Minister Youssef Raji underscoring Lebanon’s firm commitment to staying out of the fray.
At Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, traffic dropped sharply — though Lebanon stopped short of officially canceling flights or closing its airspace. The Civil Aviation Directorate attributed the near-standstill to the closure of airspace by Gulf states, Cyprus and neighboring countries, which rendered Beirut “practically unreachable for most airlines.”
The head of the Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Mohammed Aziz, said that no decision to close Lebanese airspace had been made, adding that he remained in continuous contact with the Minister of Public Works, airport security, and air navigation to monitor developments and take appropriate action as events evolve.
