The full scale of the destructive earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey on 6 February 2023 continues to unfold. According to recent statistics, this earthquake has left nearly 50,000 people dead, including more than 5,900 in Syria and thousands of Syrians residing in Turkey. Moreover, thousands are still missing, and the exact number is uncertain. According to the United Nations, the total number of people affected by the earthquake in Syria has reached around 9 million, including 2.5 million children.
Perhaps one of the worst consequences of this disaster is the tragedy of the children who lost their families and became orphans. Syria, which suffers from 12 years of war, already has about 1.2 orphans across regions, with overwhelmed care centers. As a result of the increased scale of homelessness, displacement and asylum seeking, the issue of identifying the parentage of young orphans and caring for them has become more challenging, especially after the earthquake that affected areas inhabited by the displaced.
Syrian legislation does not allow the adoption. However, Legislative Decree No. 2 of 2023 (which was issued in January to regulate the affairs and welfare of children of unknown parentage) allows for fostering children. According to Article 3, a child who loses his/her way and has no ability to identify his/her family because of his/her young age or mental weakness, or because he/she is deaf and mute, is considered a child of unknown parentage. This includes children who lost their families in the earthquake and were unable to identify themselves or their lineage.
This decree probably solves a part of the problem by offering children of unknown parentage the opportunity to find foster families. However, it leaves behind a large number of orphaned children of known parentage who need psychological and physical care, attention, and love, especially after the trauma, pain, and loss which they experienced in the aftermath of the destructive earthquake.
Therefore, new legislation must be adopted to protect Syrian children who lost their families and to provide them with the necessary care.
To address the issue of orphans and children of unknown parentage, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) stresses the need to enact a law that allows adoption, and to offer another alternative option for those who prefer to follow the sponsorship/fostering system.
Syria: Vague and Discriminatory New Decree on Children of Unknown Parentage
