The Assad regime hid hundreds of Syrian children in orphanages to extort their parents. In September we published an investigation exposing the scale of the abuse and the role of SOS International, a major European charity whose leadership knew for 7 years and remained silent.

Two weeks after publication SOS International responded publicly saying they were horrified by the reports, offered their apologies to the families and proposed safeguarding and accountability measures to ensure such abuses could not happen again, including reviewing board members for political ties. A few weeks later SOS Syria they had scaled back after all major funders pulled funding.

To ensure the investigation received attention in Damascus, and a response from Syria’s transitional government, we organised a screening of the documentary together with affected families, campaign groups, lawyers and children’s rights advocates. The screening was provided space to discuss the findings and how to ensure these violations would not be repeated.

Families who had their children taken from them traveled from across Syria to meet, discuss their demands and take them directly to a representative from the National Commission who attended the screening. Following the screening, the families met with the National Commission for Missing Persons and the Minister of Social Affairs to lay out their demands.