SOS Children's Villages will not release report on its role in Syria's disappeared children

Mixed · 2SOS Children's Villages International has said it will not release a report it commissioned to investigate its role in separating children from their families during Syria's civil war, according to a BBC World Service investigation. 1 2 Centre · 1The BBC also reported that the charity has not yet paid compensation to affected Syrian families, despite pledging to do so in plans the BBC saw. 1 Mixed · 2Under former President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian security forces took hundreds of children from imprisoned parents and told SOS and other orphanages to hide their identities and whereabouts; a BBC Eye investigation with Lighthouse Reports and other media in September 2025 found the children were used to pressure families and to negotiate prisoner exchanges. 1 2

Centre · 1After Assad's fall in 2024, SOS acknowledged that more than 140 children had been taken to its facilities by Syrian security forces. 1 Centre · 1The federation, which has associations in more than 130 countries and has received funding from the UN and European governments, commissioned the Norwegian law firm Wiersholm to establish who was responsible; the report was delivered in December 2025, and the lawyers told the BBC in January that an anonymised version would likely be made public. 1 Centre · 1In an email in May seen by the BBC, SOS board chair Domenico Parisi told staff the investigation had been "compromised" and would not be shared internally or released publicly. 1

Mixed · 2In a recording of an internal meeting obtained by the BBC, Parisi accused unnamed staff of trying to "manipulate" the report to make the organisation "look like we are the villains". 1 2 Mixed · 2A draft of the report seen by the BBC said SOS was not forced to accept the children from the security services and that its international office in Vienna had ultimate responsibility for the relevant SOS facilities in Syria. 1 2 Mixed · 2SOS said its review was ongoing and it could not comment on internal discussions; a spokesperson said the board had taken "independent legal advice" and was "committed to establishing institutional responsibility for the decisions taken". 1 2

Centre · 1The decision has added to tensions threatening the charity, founded in 1949: associations in the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, France and the Netherlands have decided to leave the federation and become independent charities. 1 Centre · 1In Germany, the directors of SOS Children's Villages Worldwide voted in December to leave, but the supervisory board overruled them and dismissed all three directors in February; SOS Worldwide told the BBC it was for "serious breaches of duty", which the directors dispute and are challenging in German courts. 1 Mixed · 2Before their dismissal, the German directors had set aside a "voluntary compensation" fund for Syrian victims, but leaked documents seen by the BBC indicate no money has been distributed; the SOS spokesperson said assistance depends "on legal and practical conditions that require co-ordination with relevant parties". 1 2

Centre · 1Omama Ghbeis, whose daughters Layla and Layan were taken to SOS in 2015 aged eight and four and reunited with their parents three years later in a prisoner exchange, said no one at SOS had spoken to the family or given them anything. 1