US report acknowledges child recruitment by PKK terrorist group
YPG/PKK kidnapped children and forced them to fight in Afrin, Syria, March 13, 2018 (AA Photo)
The U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report indicates that the PKK/YPG terrorist organization continues to forcibly recruit children into its armed ranks.
The 2024 Trafficking in Persons report was unveiled during a program attended by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The report highlights that various armed groups, including the Syrian government forces, pro-regime militias, and non-state armed groups, utilize boys and girls in conflicts. This includes extensions of the PKK/YPG terrorist organization.
Despite PKK/YPG’s commitment to comply with United Nations resolutions to end the recruitment and exploitation of children, an international organization operating in the region reported that the group’s armed factions continued to enlist children in 2022 and 2023.
The U.S. State Department’s report has documented that the PKK/YPG, a group supported by the U.S. in Syria, is recruiting child soldiers.
The United Nations’ “Children and Armed Conflict” report for 2023, released on June 20, noted that the PKK/YPG and its affiliated groups, operating under the name “SDF” in Syria, forcibly recruited 231 children into their armed ranks.
