Ahmad Murad (Baghdad, Cairo)
Iraq renewed the call to dismantle the Al-Hol camp in Syria, which is designated to house the families of fighters of the terrorist organization “ISIS”, while experts and analysts considered that the terrorist group is exploiting the living conditions to attract children and recruit them into its ranks.
Qassem Al-Araji, the Iraqi National Security Adviser, said, during his meeting with the new UK ambassador to Baghdad, Stephen Hitchin, yesterday, that Britain is a partner in the international coalition to fight ISIS, and it is important that cooperation also be in the field of exchanging security and intelligence information, according to a statement by the National Security Adviser. Iraqi.
He added, “We look forward to having international cooperation or an international strategy to combat drugs, which represents a new challenge.”
Al-Araji stressed “the importance of dismantling the Syrian Al-Hol camp; Because it produces hatred and extremism, and stresses the importance of urging the international community to withdraw countries for their nationals from this camp.
For his part, the British ambassador said: “We are working to increase the level of cooperation between Iraq and the United Kingdom in various fields, especially cooperation in the field of cybersecurity.”
The statement stated that during the meeting, they discussed the files of the “Al-Hol” and Sinjar camp and the fight against drugs, as well as strengthening coordination between Iraq and the United Kingdom in the field of combating terrorism.
They also discussed the overall political and security situation at the international and regional levels, as well as ways to strengthen and develop cooperation relations between the two countries in various fields.
The deteriorating security conditions in Al-Hol camp threaten tens of thousands of children, as they are exposed to inhuman conditions that threaten their lives.
A recent United Nations report stated that the recruitment of children is increasing, and has risen steadily over the past three years.
The director of North-Press Agency, Sherwan Youssef, explained in a statement to Al-Ittihad that the recruitment of children by armed groups continues due to the deteriorating economic situation, as poor living conditions are exploited to attract young people to the ranks of the militants, and lure them with money.
Youssef indicated that there are timid attempts to address the phenomenon of child recruitment, but they do not rise to the required level, calling for international intervention to solve this dilemma.
In turn, the Syrian writer and academic, Shafan Ibrahim, warned of the danger of the growing child recruitment campaigns, considering that this portends the emergence of a new generation that represents “time bombs” in the face of society, and a threat to civil peace.
Shafan said, in a statement to Al-Ittihad, that “the recruitment of children leads to further escalation. Because they carry the ideology of violence at an early age, and certainly we will be facing a disjointed society in which the ideas of extremism permeate; Therefore, we need a new educational, religious and political discourse to confront the phenomenon, with the support of the concerned civil society organizations.
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