SYRIA: Kidnapping of children has increased, parents fear organ trafficking as motive

DARAMSUQ (DAMASCUS) – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported popular discontent within Damascus of the kidnappings of children by anonymous people which has caused a state of panic and fear within the city.

The kidnapping of children has escalated in several regions recently, according to SOHR.

Children under the age of ten-years-old have been predominantly targeted, leading to great fear among the parents about the fate of their children. No communication has been recorded between the kidnappers and the children’s parents up to the moment, discontinuing ransom as a motive for the abductions.

The situation has caused the parents of many of the missing to break down, since it is usually common in such incidents that the kidnappers speak with the kidnapped relatives in order to extort money to pay for the kidnapped release. The kidnapped families fear, given the silence of the kidnappers, that the motive is organ trafficking in light of the deterioration of the security situation in Syria and Daramsuq (Damascus) in particular.