Zaman Al Wasl reveals names of detainees' children transferred by Syrian intelligence to “SOS Children’s Villages”

Despite SOS Children's Villages denying its involvement in any suspicious activities in coordination with the Syrian intelligence services, documents, photos of which were obtained by Zaman al-Wasl, revealed that dozens of children of detainees in the Air Force Intelligence in Damascus were transferred to the organization after their families were arrested or liquidated.

The documents show coordination between the organization, which began operating in Syria in 1975, and the security services, which raises questions about the extent of the organization's commitment to its humanitarian principles.

The largest non-governmental organisation claims that it is focusing on supporting children without parental care and families at risk, but the documents put this goal under the microscope, especially with it receiving support from figures accused of war crimes before the fall of Assad, such as Asma al-Akhras, Bashar al-Assad's wife.

According to Zaman al-Wasl sources, the head of the organization's board of directors in Syria, Dr. Samar Daboul, played a prominent role in building relationships with influential figures in the former Syrian regime, while collecting donations to support the organization's activities, before leaving the country.

The newspaper previously monitored cases of changing the names of children "officially registered in the civil registry" after their arrival at the Lahn Al Hayat Center; which is not affiliated with SOS, but these cases raise the question of whether this violation is repeated in the SOS.

"Zaman Al Wasl" publishes the names of dozens of children who were transferred to the organization for the so-called a temporary residence.

The sources confirmed that the children can be retrieved by the parties that deposited them at any time, whether to pressure their families or to use them as bargaining chips in a prisoner exchange with the regime or its allies, including two children who were deported from an Arab country after Norway refused their family asylum; which raises further doubts about the role of humanitarian organizations in conflicts.