Global charity withholds report into its role in Syria's 'disappeared' children
Summary
SOS Children's Villages International, a global charity, decided not to release a report investigating its role in separating children from their families during Syria’s civil war. The charity has also not yet provided compensation to affected Syrian families despite previous promises.Key Facts
- Syrian security forces took hundreds of children from imprisoned parents during the civil war and asked charities like SOS to hide the children’s identities.
- Sisters Layla and Layan Ghbeis were taken from their mother in 2015 and reunited three years later through a prisoner exchange.
- SOS Children’s Villages acknowledged that over 140 children were placed in its care by Syrian security forces after President Assad’s fall in 2024.
- The charity hired a Norwegian law firm to investigate its responsibility, and the report was delivered in December 2025.
- SOS board chair Domenico Parisi later said the investigation was "compromised" and did not release the report, accusing some staff of trying to make the charity look bad.
- Several national SOS associations from countries such as the UK, Norway, and Sweden withdrew from the federation after this controversy.
- The charity receives funding from the UN and European governments and is reviewing its institutional responsibility.
- The families affected by the children’s separation continue to suffer emotional trauma from these events.
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