Since the fall of the Assad regime, one of the most complex and painful issues to come to light in Syria is that of the missing children of those detained and disappeared under the former dictator’s rule.
These children were forcibly separated from their families during the years that followed the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, when oppression intensified and mass arrests took place.
Many have grown up in orphanages or foster homes, not knowing anything about their real identities, nor of the fate of their parents and families.
In the light of an absence of records, as well as the complicity of former official agencies in erasing the facts around the identities of these children and their transfer into orphanages, this issue has become a gaping wound for thousands of families who are still searching for their children, in the face of myriad legal, humanitarian and ethical complexities.
Serious test for Syria’s new rulers
As Syria embarks on a new phase, the issue of these missing children poses a serious test for transitional justice. It will be one litmus test for the new authorities’ seriousness in addressing the heavy legacy of violations that took place under the former regime.
During the decades-long era of repression by the Assad dynasty, violations extended from those arrested to their families, including their children, many of whom suddenly found themselves wrenched from their homes, without family, and without an acknowledged identity.
Many were placed in orphanages or state foster institutions, labelled “children of unknown parentage” or “without family care.”
Sources familiar with the issue say hundreds of children are currently in state-run foster homes, with no known relatives or recognised legal guardians.
The dilemma is worse when it comes to identifying children taken from their detained mothers as babies.
Deliberately concealed
A former employee at a foster home in Damascus, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Many children arrived at the home without official documents proving their parentage. They were often registered under new names or as foundlings, even though some had families trying to find out where they were.”
She pointed out that the homes were overcrowded and lacked adequate resources, including any psychological or social care, which intensified children’s suffering and feelings of isolation in an environment devoid of love and nurturing.
Sara Mohammed, a mother of four, spent five years imprisoned by the Assad regime. She still lives in hope of finding her youngest child, who was with her when she was arrested, and was less than a year old at the time.
Her baby was seized from her, and she was later informed that he had been taken to a foster home. However, the family has been unable to trace him, and there are no official documents proving his identity, nor have any agencies been able to help determine his location.
Sara says all she can think about today is what happened to him. Her anguish is evident as she speaks about her longing to see him. She says she wants to know if he is still alive, and if he would remember her features or his name.
Despite the complexities of the current political and security situation in Syria, the efforts of families searching for their lost children are unceasing.
Syrian children sit outside an orphanage close to the town of Sarmada near the Syria-Turkey border on November 21, 2017 [Getty]
Lack of documentation
Adnan al-Dani’s sister was arrested in 2013 while with her baby. After eight years, she was released and reunited with her family, but the child wasn’t with her. The family haven’t stopped searching since.
Adnan says his sister didn’t have a birth certificate, nor any official papers proving the baby was hers, which has proved a significant obstacle in their attempts to trace him or even confirm his parentage, especially due to the lack of records and the lack of cooperation from the child care sector on this issue.
All she has is an old photo of her with her baby son — her one piece of evidence indicating their relationship, and the family is trying to use it to advance legal procedures. Still, their efforts have been unsuccessful so far.
Moving towards justice?
In June 2025, Syrian authorities arrested two former ministers of social affairs and labour, Kinda al-Shammat and Reema al-Qadari, as well as several staff employed in the care sector.
Their arrests were related to an official investigation into the fate of the missing children of prisoners and those forcibly disappeared under the former regime. The accusations directed at the former officials concerned corruption and malpractice concerning the orphanages.
Although the authorities haven’t issued an official statement linking the arrests to the missing children investigation, human rights activist Raed al-Fadel believes they are based on personal allegations from families who have accused staff at these orphanages of refusing to cooperate with them.
The arrested officials are accused of forging documents to facilitate the transfer of detainees’ children, estimated at between 300 and 500, to orphanages in Damascus. It is hoped that their arrests could open a new window into the fate of many children registered as “of unknown parentage”.
Fadel explains that “any crack in the wall of silence on this issue could present an opportunity for families and follow-up committees to push for a full disclosure of the children’s records in these institutions and for their legal review.”
Samer Qurabi, a spokesperson for Syria’s Committee for Monitoring the Fate of Children of Detainees and the Disappeared, revealed that an initial review puts the number of children currently in care homes, whose parents are believed to have been prisoners or forcibly disappeared, at around 314 children.
He explained to The New Arab that the committee hasn’t yet accessed any official documents detailing the family backgrounds of these children, as all they have found so far are administrative records indicating their transfer into the care homes.
Qurabi said work is underway to compile a database documenting children’s identities and the dates of their admission into the institution, but this is still in its early stages.
He emphasised that foster homes don’t allow children any contact with their families or relatives, if they are still around, and instead treat them in a manner that deliberately conceals them from the wider society.
Regarding the level of care and living conditions in orphanages and foster homes, he explained that monitoring was weak and tended to be superficial rather than guaranteeing even a bare minimum of real protection.
Qurabi indicated that plans are underway to start providing psychological care to children in homes, especially those who have lost their families due to detention or forced disappearance.
Regarding the committee’s work, Qurabi explained that its remit encompassed all orphanages and foster homes in Syria, and that it had only been formed three months prior. He further explained that the methods they were using to determine the identities of children included witness testimonies, circumstantial evidence, and the running of DNA testing when this was possible.
Qurabi also revealed that, while there was currently no such cooperation, the committee was open to initiatives such as working with Syrian organisations and families living overseas to extend legal assistance to them, as well as collecting genetic data to assist with progressing the task of finding the missing children.
Hadia Al Mansour is a freelance journalist from Syria who has written for Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Monitor, SyriaUntold, and Rising for Freedom Magazine
Article translated from Arabic by Rose Chacko