Arab News | Charity withholds report into its role in disappearances of Syrian children: BBC

LONDON: A report into the role of a charity in the removal and disappearance of Syrian children during the country’s civil war will not be released, the BBC reported.

SOS Children’s Villages International commissioned the report but is withholding its findings and has yet to pay compensation to families affected by the nationwide state-backed detentions of parents and the removal of their children.

The BBC World Service, working with other journalists, said SOS was informed of the location of numerous children by security forces after parents were routinely detained. The charity acknowledged it was aware of the locations of at least 140.

As part of a BBC Eye investigation alongside Lighthouse Reports, it was found that the removal of children was used by the former Assad regime to pressure families and as a bargaining chip when negotiating prisoner releases with other groups.

The SOS report was carried out by Norwegian law firm Wiersholm into who ultimately was responsible for the children’s removal and care.

Wiersholm submitted its findings in December 2025, and the BBC was initially told that a redacted version to protect the identities of individuals would likely be published in due course.

But the BBC learned that in May, SOS Chairman Domenico Parisi had emailed staff to claim that the report had been “compromised” and would not be released.

In a meeting, the BBC said, Parisi had accused some SOS staff of making the charity “look like we are the villains” and trying to “manipulate” the findings.

A draft of the report seen by the BBC said the charity had not been forced to take children from Syrian authorities.

It also said the charity’s head office in Vienna had ultimate responsibility for its operations in Syria.

SOS told the BBC that its review was ongoing and it could not comment on internal meetings.

A spokesperson said the SOS board had “committed to establishing institutional responsibility for the decisions taken” and was taking “independent legal advice.”

The charity’s global federation is made up of associations in more than 130 countries, and has received funding from European governments and the UN.

However, its decision to withhold the report has seen associations in the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, France and the Netherlands leave the federation.

Directors of the German federation voted to leave in December but were overruled by the supervisory board.

Three directors were subsequently fired in February for what the association told the BBC were “serious breaches of duty.” They are appealing the decision.

The dismissed directors had previously established a voluntarily compensation fund for Syrian victims, but no money has been paid so far.

The SOS spokesperson said payments would rely “on legal and practical conditions that require co-ordination with relevant parties.”