In a Damascus orphanage, 11-year-old Fawaz sat silently, watching a man repair a wooden door with screwdriver and nails. Seizing the moment, Fawaz approached cautiously.
“Please, uncle… I beg you… could you do me a favor?” he whispered.
The man paused, surprised. “What is it, my son?”
Fawaz’s voice trembled. “I need you to call this number. It’s my grandfather… it’s urgent. Very urgent.”
The man hesitated. “My son, this could get me in serious trouble.”
Fawaz said nothing, staring until the man quietly checked no one was watching, then dialed the number and handed the phone over.
“Grandpa…” Fawaz choked. “My siblings and I are in Dar Al Rahma orphanage… Mother and grandmother are in Al-Jawiya Air Force Intelligence prison… Grandma was beaten badly. Please… use your connections to get us out.”
Then the call ended.
After the regime’s fall, Syrians oscillated between hope and despair. Mothers emerged from prison, carrying children who had grown up behind bars, while families searched frantically through prisons, offices, and rubble. Yet for most, their loved ones remained missing.
During the Syrian war, more than 600,000 people were killed, 157,000—including 5,000 children—detained, and thousands of children vanished. Estimates suggest 3,000–4,000 remain missing, their fate unknown.
Our investigation exposes how the former regime detained and concealed hundreds of children in state-funded orphanages, many of which received international aid.
This spring, we returned to Damascus after years away. Driving through the countryside, torn portraits of Bashar al-Assad lined the roads, juxtaposed with walls scrawled with graffiti—an eerie testament to a bygone era.
In the days that followed, we met families, entered prisons and orphanages, and pieced together a sprawling network hiding Syria’s stolen children. Journalists and digital investigators from Syria, Europe, and the Middle East joined us. We conducted over 100 interviews with families, separated children, and orphanage staff. Whistleblowers, witnesses, and investigators provided critical insights. We obtained hundreds of Air Force Intelligence databases and dozens of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor documents.
The evidence revealed systematic involvement by intelligence agencies, government institutions, and even international organizations. Each lead exposed another hidden layer.
A Family Targeted
A year earlier, in rural Damascus, Fawaz heard a loud knock. His mother, Sabah, looked back with dread.
An intelligence officer instructed her, “We need you at the branch for ten minutes… bring the children; the brigadier general wants to see them.”
Sabah, her children—Fawaz, 11, Omar, 5, and Anoud, 3—and her mother-in-law, Huda al-Ajami, were all taken. The children were imprisoned alongside their mother in Mazzeh Prison; Huda was placed in solitary confinement. They watched as their mother and grandmother were beaten and interrogated, while Fawaz endured his own interrogation.
“There was a lot of physical violence,” Sabah recalled. “They threatened me with the children. Interrogators said, ‘If you don’t talk, we’ll kill Fawaz in front of you.’”
The authorities sought information about Sabah’s husband, Naim Rahma, a Syrian opposition fighter, and other family members involved in anti-regime activity. When they learned her uncle was Hussein al-Harmoush, the first Syrian army officer to defect and founder of the Free Officers Brigade, they intensified their violence.
Children at Intelligence Bureaus
Since the 1980s, Syrian children have been detained alongside parents in prisons. Some were born behind bars. With the 2011 uprising, the system became more perilous.
Documents from orphanages and Air Force Intelligence reveal children were used as bargaining chips for prisoner exchanges with opposition groups. The UN’s Independent Mission on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP) identified about 400 children transferred to orphanages under security directives. We documented 323 names, including 14 infants under one year, and over 72 under three. Records are incomplete, suggesting many more remain unaccounted for.
Arrests targeted opposition families or relatives of fighters. People were often detained with their families, interrogated, and the children held for use in exchanges. After Air Force Intelligence approval, a bureaucratic process moved children from intelligence custody to the Ministry of Social Affairs, and finally into orphanages including Dar Al Rahma, Lahn Al Hayat, Al Mabarrah, and SOS Children’s Villages.
Official correspondence frequently emphasized secrecy:
“Keep the names of children confidential.”
“Do not reveal their identity.”
“Top secret.”
“Memorize This Number”
In Rankous, Huda gave Fawaz his grandfather’s phone number. “Take care of your siblings,” she said. “Don’t forget this number. Call him as soon as you can.”
Fawaz later called secretly from a carpenter’s phone in Dar Al Rahma. The family tried to locate the children, but the orphanage denied holding them. Middlemen demanded bribes; access remained restricted. Huda was eventually permitted visits every two weeks, but custody was refused.
The House of Mercy
Fawaz and his siblings were placed in Dar Al Rahma orphanage, linked to the Abu Al Nour Mosque and Al Ansar Charitable Society. Though publicly a charitable shelter, the reality was grim. The children were separated, subjected to interrogation, forced labor, food deprivation, and punishments for disobedience. Fawaz’s phone call to his grandfather brought hope but also retribution.
Other parents reported physical abuse, burns, and beatings inflicted on children. In 2019, a local woman publicly described witnessing children being beaten. Despite initial media coverage, the Ministry’s investigation ultimately dismissed the claims.
Intergenerational Arrests
In 2015, Abdulrahman Ghbeis’ newborn son, Mohammed, was taken into custody with family members in a sweeping arrest. Omama Ghbeis, his mother, instructed daughters Laila and Layan to memorize key details, ensuring they could survive if separated.
Mohammed was moved under tight security, first to hospitals, then to orphanages including Al Mabarrah Association and eventually SOS Children’s Villages. The sisters were placed in SOS while their mothers remained imprisoned. The children suffered deep psychological effects, including nightmares, social withdrawal, and attachment difficulties.
SOS Children’s Villages
Founded in 1949, SOS runs orphanages in Syria, including Qudsaya and Sabboura. From 2013 to 2018, the organization received 139 children without proper documentation under intelligence orders. Staff were aware of these “referrals,” sometimes restricting children from school or public visibility.
Internal investigations revealed that children were sometimes admitted under false names. By 2018, SOS Syria stopped accepting such referrals. Yet documents from 2022 show intelligence still sent four Iraqi children to SOS Syria, keeping transfers secret.
Lahn Al Hayat Orphanage
Formerly Dar Zaid bin Haritha, Lahn Al Hayat became a public entity in 2023, responsible for children of unknown parentage. Documents show intelligence often placed children there while controlling their movement. Former officials face charges for altering records and concealing family backgrounds.
Prospects of Justice
After the regime’s fall, the Ministry of Social Affairs initiated an investigation into missing children in orphanages. A committee, chaired by Raghdaa Zeidan, continues to review thousands of documents, while the UN-established Independent Institution on Missing Persons works to locate and document missing Syrians.
Open the Door!
When Dar Al Rahma was stormed during the regime’s fall, Fawaz and his siblings were rescued. His mother, Sabah, was released, but his father, Naim Rahma, had been killed in an explosive attack days earlier. Fawaz now lives with his family in Rankous, working in the fields.
The Ghbeis family was reunited in 2018 after a prisoner exchange. The children suffered lasting trauma, struggling to recognize their parents and adjust to family life. Many of the children who endured forced separation experience ongoing psychological effects.
Despite reunions for some, over 3,700 children remain missing, with families continuing their search for justice.
This report is a translated version of “Syria’s Stolen Children,” a joint investigation by Lighthouse Reports, BBC Eye, The Observer, Women Who Won the War, Der Spiegel, Siraj, and Trouw, available in multiple formats and languages.