YPG-milis rekryterar barn i flyktingläger i Syrien
Den kurdisk-syriska milisen YPG har rekryterat barn under 18 år och låtit dem delta i strider i Syrien. Det uppger Human Rights Watch (HRW) som har intervjuat familjer i ett flyktingläger i Syrien, skriver SVT Nyheter. Familjerna berättar att åtta barn värvats till YPG eller den lokala kurdiska säkerhetspolisen.
224 barn uppges ha rekryterats av YPG under förra året, enligt FN:s årliga rapport om barn i väpnade konflikter. YPG har sedan tidigare lovat att inte rekrytera personer under 18 år till väpnade konflikter.
bakgrund
Folkets försvarsenheter (YPG)
Wikipedia (en)
The People's Protection Units (Kurdish: ;یەکینەکانی پاراستنی گەل ;Yekîneyên Parastina Gel pronounced [jɛkiːnɛjeːn pɑːɾɑːstɯnɑː ɡɛl], Arabic: وحدات حماية الشعب, Classical Syriac: ܚܕܝ̈ܘܬܐ ܕܣܘܬܪܐ ܕܥܡܐ, translit. Ḥdoywotho d'Sutoro d'Amo; YPG) is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria's Syrian Democratic Forces. The YPG is mostly ethnically Kurdish, and also includes Arabs, foreign volunteers, and is closely allied to the Syriac Military Council, a militia of Assyrians.
The YPG was formed in 2004 as the armed wing of the Kurdish leftist Democratic Union Party. It expanded rapidly in the Syrian Civil War and came to predominate over other armed Kurdish groups. A sister group, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), fights alongside them. The YPG is active in northern and eastern Syria.
In early 2015, the group won a major victory over ISIL at the Siege of Kobanî, where the YPG began to receive air and ground support from the United States and other coalition nations. Since then, the YPG has primarily fought against ISIL, as well as on occasion fighting other Syrian rebel groups.In late 2015, the YPG founded the Syrian Democratic Forces upon the US's urging, as an umbrella group to better incorporate Arabs and minorities into the war effort. In 2016–2017, the SDF's Raqqa campaign captured the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital.
Several western sources have described the YPG as the "most effective" force in fighting ISIL in Syria. A light infantry force, the YPG has limited military equipment and few armoured vehicles.
The YPG has been criticized by Turkey for its alleged support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), especially since a rebellion in southern Turkey began in 2015. Turkey has designated the YPG as a terrorist organization, and in 2018 Turkey captured most of Afrin Canton from the YPG.
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