The Assad regime detained these 6 Syrian kids with their parents in 2013. Where are they now?

Children's school uniforms hung connected the door. Their world workbooks laic connected their desks. Toys covered successful particulate were inactive sitting connected the floor.

That's however Naila Al-Abbasi found her sister Rania's apartment successful Syria, astir 12 years aft she was detained alongside her six children and thrust into the erstwhile regime's concealed web of prisons and detention facilities.

Al-Abbasi had travelled from Saudi Arabia to sojourn the home in Dummar Project, an affluent neighbourhood northwest of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Feb. 25.

"The odor of execution fills the house. The walls and curtains bittersweet arsenic if they were mourning their separation," Al-Abbasi posted connected Instagram.

She recovered each country covered with dirt. The carcasses of birds who flew into the location were scattered connected the floor. 

It was once a agleam and engaged location to six children: Dima, 13; Entisar, 12; Najah, 11; Alaa, 8; Ahmed, 6; and Layan, 1.

For years, Hassan Al-Abbasi, Rania's brother, has been demanding accusation connected their whereabouts.

He has actively searched for the children pursuing the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's authorities past December. But his calls person gone unanswered, with nary connection connected the family's destiny since March 2013.

"The concern is precise difficult, due to the fact that nary of the children person turned up and it was the archetypal clip our household has entered the location successful 12 years," Hassan told CBC News from Ottawa, wherever helium lives with his woman and children.

"It was precise painful."

Children likely transferred to orphanages

On March 9, 2013, members of Assad's subject quality arrested Rania Al-Abbasi's husband, Abdul Rahman Yasin, successful their home, earlier returning to loot each the golden and money, prehend 3 cars, computers and mobile phones, on with passports and ownership documents of their properties and Al-Abbasi's dental clinic.

Two days later, quality members returned to apprehension Al-Abbasi, on with her six children and caput Majdoline Al-Qady, who happened to beryllium with them astatine the time. 

The parents were accused of providing humanitarian assistance to those successful request during the Syrian revolution, which erupted successful March 2011.

Al-Abbasi's lawsuit rapidly became 1 of the astir salient successful Syria, highlighting the contented of disappeared detainees — some parents and children.

Hassan believes the children apt remained with Rania successful detention facilities, according to different detainees' reports, earlier possibly being transferred to orphanages oregon child-care facilities and stripped of their identities and household origins. But it has been intolerable to verify without entree to the organizations' documents.

The disappearance of implicit families is 1 of the widespread atrocities committed during Assad's brutal rule.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it received reports of this signifier respective years ago, and that it allegedly progressive institutions specified arsenic the SOS Children's Villages Syria. 

In a statement to CBC News connected Feb. 25, the enactment said it "acknowledges concerns astir children placed successful attraction organizations, including SOS Children's Villages Syria, by the erstwhile government."

"During the war, galore children were unnecessarily separated from their families and placed successful alternate attraction services by the authorities without due documentation of their origins."

Arresting children, families 'systematic'

Hassan said his family paid thousands of dollars to situation officials and members progressive successful these operations for immoderate accusation connected Rania and her family, but each clip they would beryllium near with unverifiable accusation and no existent cognition of their whereabouts.

He said the kids' paternal aunt visited a Syrian detention installation successful 2013 to petition the children's merchandise successful the months pursuing their detainment. The aunt was subsequently detained for 3 months.

"Arresting children and families was systematic. The authorities could person returned the children to their relatives, but alternatively they threatened to apprehension them arsenic good if they talk out," Hassan said.

He said the family hired a lawyer to look into orphanages successful 2022 aft learning the authorities was placing children of those detained oregon killed successful their prisons. That did not provide any answers, either.

In the pursuing years, Hassan was told by a idiosyncratic astatine 1 of the orphanages that helium recognized 4 of the six children though their names had been changed. Despite attempts to scope them, Hassan was incapable to verify that.

"These children grew up successful our location … if you killed them, nonstop america immoderate photos, astatine slightest we volition cognize that they were killed," Hassan, appealing to those progressive successful the erstwhile regime's operations.

At slightest 3,700 children disappeared

The Syrian Network for Human Rights says that verified lists amusement astir 3,700 children were forcibly disappeared by the Assad authorities since 2011, though galore suggest the fig is much higher — much than 10,000.

In precocious January, SNHR called connected the transitional Syrian authorities to behaviour an "immediate and comprehensive" probe into each of the organizations that received children from the erstwhile regime.

"Many relatives think that the families that were detained — the child, the ma and dada — that the authorities killed [all of] them … but there are truthful galore children successful these organizations," Hassan said.

WATCH | A father's hunt for his sons arrested successful Syria successful 2013: 

SOS Children's Villages said that nether caller absorption changes, it began accepting lone children with documentation successful 2018.

"We regret the untenable concern we recovered ourselves successful erstwhile receiving the children and unequivocally disapprove of specified practices, arsenic children should ne'er beryllium separated from their families unless it is successful their champion interest," the enactment said successful the statement.

Rania Al-Abbasi's destiny remains unknown, on with that of hundreds of thousands of different detainees successful Assad's prisons. Mass graves were uncovered aft the autumn of the Assad regime, but it could instrumentality years to place the remains.

Father believed killed after month in custody

Hassan said the household believes his brother-in-law was tortured and killed astir a period aft helium was detained. They came to this conclusion after recognizing Abdul Rahman Yasin in 1 of the 53,000 photos shared by a Syrian subject constabulary defector dubbed "Caesar" for smuggling the photos retired of Syria in an effort to papers the torture and brutal deaths successful Assad's prisons.

In the years following, Hassan said relatives would inquire radical to sojourn Al-Abbasi and Yasin's location to cheque successful connected it and spot what was near behind. But they were excessively acrophobic it was inactive being monitored oregon inhabited by quality officers.

Hassan said the greater interest for his household is that the children whitethorn not beryllium successful orphanages oregon adjacent successful the country.

"We person faith. If they died, past they are martyrs. And if they didn't die, past we are continuing to hunt for them," helium said.

"This is 1 catastrophe retired of many. Until now, we person not reached the existent grade of these crimes — we've reached lone portion of it."