Post

We couldn’t have done this without partners the BBC, @theobserveruk.bsky.social, Women who Won the War, Siraj, @spiegel.de and @trouw.nl who spent 9 months verifying 1000s of documents with us, conducting 100+ interviews with families, ex-orphanage staff, officials, lawyers & whistleblowers

The painstaking database our team and partners assembled was used to build a comprehensive picture of regime’s system Great care was taken not to remove or interfere with documents that could be used as evidence for any future court proceedings..

open.spotify.comحين يُعتَقل الأطفال: الملف السري للفصل القسري

A podcast series in Arabic on Sowt & radio stations tells the story from the mouths of the families and journalists. Grandmas describe begging orphanages to see their children, while jailed parents were taunted with their disappearance during interrogations. Ep 1: open.spotify.com/episode/1FpK...

trouw.nlOnder Assad werden honderden kinderen in weeshuizen geplaatst. ‘Mijn dochter noemde elke vrouw van mijn leeftijd mama’Onder het regime van Bashar al-Assad werden honderden kinderen, van wie de ouders waren gearresteerd, gedwongen in opvanghuizen geplaatst. Ook bij een bekende internationale ngo.

In the Netherlands, @trouw.nl reports that from 2013 SOS Kinderdorpen raised €3.6m for SOS Syria, money that primarily came from charitable donations from the public. They suspended all funding for SOS Syria in response to revelations about the children. www.trouw.nl/buitenland/o...

spiegel.de(S+) Syrien: Kinder als Geiseln im Assad-Regime - Versteckt in WaisenhäusernDas Assad-Regime hat Kinder von Gefangenen in Waisenhäusern versteckt, auch in einem mit deutschen Spenden unterstützten SOS-Kinderdorf in Damaskus. Im Wiener Hauptquartier der Organisation wusste man...

@spiegel.de reports how in Germany, where SOS is a household name, local affiliate SOS-Kinderdörfer was the main funder of SOS Syria for years until it suspended support this year, saying “the wellbeing of the children can no longer be reliably guaranteed.” www.spiegel.de/ausland/syri...

aljumhuriya.netالميتم الذي أخفانا: أطفال في قبضة المخابرات السوريةكيف استخدم النظام السوري السابق أطفالاً للضغط على معارضيه؟

A feature piece on @aljumhuriya.bsky.social details how Assad’s security apparatus orchestrated the system behind the operation and used children as leverage against its opponents. aljumhuriya.net/ar/2025/09/1...

Mohammed Ghbeis was seized from an incubator in Damascus while only days old. By the time Mohammed’s mother Iman was able to see him in prison, he was a year old, taking his first steps. They couldn’t recognise each other. Ghbeis archive: Mohammed Ghbeis newborn

We tell the stories of toddlers, even newborns stolen from their parents, some of the 320+ children whose cases we’ve documented. Over 9 months, working with partners, we verified 1000s of documents, did 100+ interviews with families, ex-orphanage staff, lawyers & whistleblowers to build a database

Families told of orphanages that acted as prisons. Relatives were denied custody of children who were kept hidden under orders from Syrian intelligence. Some were given new names.”

Many families are still searching, demanding answers and justice. Rights lawyer @kimmotleyslaw.bsky.social told us, “the children could be the victims of crimes against humanity

Thia Fin

@thiafin.bsky.social