US admits allied Kurdish militias’ continued child recruitment in Syria

The United States has acknowledged that its allied militias in Syria continue to recruit and use child soldiers within their ranks, despite numerous warnings and reprimands over the years against their role in the illegal practice.

According to the US State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report on Monday, the Kurdish militias in north-east Syria that the American military backs – under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – continue to “recruit and use boys and girls as child soldiers” within and around their territories.

Despite the militias’ alleged agreement to implement the United Nations Security Council’s action plan to “end the recruitment and use of children and demobilise children in SDF ranks”, the report stated that an “international organisation reported SDF-affiliated armed groups recruited and used children in 2022 and 2023”.

The report also stated that the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) – the militant youth wing of the terrorist group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) – “in north-west Syria continues to recruit, train, and use boys and girls as young as 12 years old”, prominently “through fraudulent announcements for educational courses in northeast Syria”.

Citing reports by international and non-governmental organisations that have revealed the Kurdish forces’ continued use of the practice, the US State Department report said that “Observers report these children have undergone military training in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq”.

The US government’s latest report on the issue comes after a UN report last month revealed that the Kurdish militias in Syria and their affiliated fighters forcibly integrated 231 children into their armed ranks in 2023.

READ: Syria National Army rebel coalition signs action plan with UN to prevent child recruitment