How Syria dictatorship used a global child welfare charity to 'disappear' children

BBC Eye Investigations in collaboration with Lighthouse Reports uncovers how Syria's Assad regime used a global childcare charity to aid the disappearance of hundreds of children.

We follow the journey of Reem al-Kari to find her son Karim Turjman - one of 3,700 children who went missing during Syria’s civil war from 2011 to 2024.

During her search for her child, she finds out how hundreds of children were held in orphanages by the regime in order to extort their relatives, and why many have never been found.

The scale of one childcare charity’s involvement in the disappearance of children of political detainees under the EU-sanctioned Assad regime in Syria is revealed through Reem’s search.  

SOS Children’s Villages International admit that they have lost track of at least 104 children placed with them and have launched an investigation to find out what happened. 

Syria’s Stolen Children is part of a joint project with Lighthouse Reports, The Observer, SIRAJ, Der Spiegel, Trouw, and Women Who Won the War.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour decided not to respond to our team’s request for comment. 

The Assad family did not respond to our request to comment.

You can watch the full #BBCEye investigation Syria’s Stolen Children on BBC World Service YouTube or on iPlayer in the UK.

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