Australian boys in Syrian custody face removal from men’s prisons: UN expert
LONDON: Australian boys held in detention camps in northeast Syria will be separated from their families and placed in men’s prisons, The Guardian has reported.
UN experts said at least 10 boys of various nationalities – family members of former Daesh fighters – were removed from the Rose camp on 31 January as they celebrated their 12th birthdays.
Many Australian families in the camp have been warned that their male children will soon be placed in senior prisons as young as 12.
A group of UN experts warned that most of the boys had been detained in Syrian camps for years and were “victims of terrorism”.
Experts said they deserve the full protection of international human rights law.
Children are usually removed from detention camps for fear of radicalization and incarcerated with adults in single-sex prisons.
UN experts said: “The indefinite detention of boys based on crimes allegedly committed by their family members, from cradle to grave, from camp to prison, is a shocking example of the legal black hole that currently exists. In is the symbol of northeastern Syria.
“Forcibly removing boys who have reached the age of 10 or 12 from camps, separating them from their mothers and siblings, and taking them to undisclosed locations is completely illegal.
“We are extremely concerned that these boys may be at risk of serious harm and fear that they may be forcibly disappeared, and could be subject to sale, exploitation and abuse, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment.”
About 60 Australians live in detention camps in northeast Syria, including women who claim they were forced to travel to the region because of their marriages to slain Daesh fighters.
The Australian government repatriated four women and 13 children from the Rose camp in October last year.
But families of Australians held in Syrian detention camps are pressing the authorities to launch more repatriation missions.
The sources said the government would continue its repatriation efforts but further missions would prove “more complex”.
Matt Tinkler, CEO of Save the Children Australia, said: “It would be unconscionable to fail to act now… There is no excuse for not bringing these vulnerable children home without delay.
“They are all Australian citizens who deserve full access to the education, health care and support systems available here, which will allow them to re-integrate and recover.”
If Australian boys are removed from their families and sent to men’s prisons, “they are left vulnerable due to lack of communication with their mothers, with no clear path to release,” Tinkler said. Said.