SOS Villages under Asma al-Assad's control are implicated in detainees' children's disappearance
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Orphanages and SOS Children’s Villages, directly backed by Asma al-Assad, wife of the ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, are facing serious allegations of involvement in the disappearance of children of detainees.
Reports allege that SOS Villages secretly housed these children while concealing their identities. In an interview with °®Âþµº, Rania’s brother, Hassan al-Abbasi, revealed the organisation initially denied housing detainees’ children. However, he claimed they later admitted to doing so but refused to reveal the children’s identities, citing the absence of records. Al-Abbasi accused the organisation of changing the children’s names to obscure their identities and prevent reunification with their families or relatives.
Responding to the allegations, SOS Children’s Villages released a statement acknowledging concerns about children placed in care during the war. "During the war, many children were unnecessarily separated from their families and placed in alternative care services by the authorities without proper documentation of their origins," the statement read. SOS Syria confirmed that 40 children were placed in their care under such circumstances, with these placements imposed on them until 2019. "While in our care, the children received support consistent with our principles of safety and well-being. All the children were later taken back by the former government.
We regret the untenable situation we found ourselves in when receiving the children and unequivocally disapprove of such practices as children should never be separated from their families unless it is in their best interest," SOS said. The organisation emphasised that in 2018, they demanded the previous government stop placing children under their care without proper documentation. It also noted that since 2020, under new leadership, significant efforts have been made to uphold transparency, including sharing details of the affected children with the interim Ministry of Social Affairs in Syria and the International Committee of the Red Cross to trace their families.
