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IHCHR Report: 5 Million Orphaned Children in Iraq

Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) headquarters (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) headquarters (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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IHCHR Report: 5 Million Orphaned Children in Iraq

Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) headquarters (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) headquarters (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) released its recent report on the unfortunate situation in Iraq regarding the overall conditions of the population.

The Commission announced that five million children are orphaned in Iraq, about five percent of the total orphans in the world.

The report also indicated that there were one million child laborers, 45,000 children without identification documents, including children with ISIS-affiliated parents, and 4.5 million children whose families are below the poverty line.

IHCHR received 5,000 domestic violence complaints, according to the report.

IHCHR official Ali al-Bayati told Asharq Al-Awsat that the report based its number on various indicators from international and local organizations.

The number of orphans was based on UNICEF figures. The rest of the indicators were based on the statistics of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and UN agencies or complaints received by the Commission.

The Commission also recorded a poverty rate of 25 percent of the total population, including the Kurdistan Region, and an unemployment rate of nearly 14 percent. In addition, 596 civilians were killed as a result of the violence.

Since 2014, 8,000 persons have been reported missing in Iraq. The Commission indicated that the Iraqi authorities did not conduct the necessary investigations to reveal their fate or help their families.

The Commission also reported the arrest of ten activists and journalists and received 900 complaints related to torture and ill-treatment in prisons without the authorities conducting an investigation.

The country needs 3.5 million housing units to overcome its housing crisis and 8,000 schools to adequately address students' needs, and the overall dropout rate from learning institutions was 73 percent in 2021.

In addition, there are about 4000 slums inhabited by about half a million families, most of which are concentrated in Baghdad.

In 2021, 175 people died due to the COVID-19 hospital fires in Baghdad and Nasiriyah, the report added.

There have also been 2,152 reported fatalities in traffic accidents during the same period, given the lack of developed roads across Iraq and the increasingly unplanned import of cars which significantly increased traffic accidents.

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Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
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Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 

The brief detention of Talal Naji, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), by Syrian authorities has renewed scrutiny over the status of Palestinian factions still operating in Syria, particularly those that aligned with the former Assad regime.

Naji’s arrest and swift release come amid a major political realignment following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. Once one of the most active and heavily armed Palestinian groups in Syria, the PFLP-GC now faces an uncertain future, along with other factions that were long tolerated—or even supported—under Assad’s rule.

A well-informed Palestinian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new Syrian administration has appointed a figure known as Abu Abdul Rahman al-Shami to oversee the file of Palestinian factions. Since assuming the role, al-Shami has convened multiple meetings with faction representatives, including regular attendees from the PFLP-GC, to discuss the fate of their fighters, weapons, property, and military infrastructure.

According to the source, al-Shami has made it clear that the new government intends to hold accountable any individuals or groups implicated in crimes against Syrian civilians during the civil war. Palestinian factions have been instructed to surrender all weapons and military equipment, and to limit their activities to humanitarian and relief work. The PFLP-GC, the source said, has largely complied.

Despite the fall of the Assad regime, Naji and much of the PFLP-GC’s second- and third-tier leadership have remained in Syria. Its offices in Damascus reportedly continue to operate, though under heightened scrutiny. Other faction leaders, however, have fled. Among them are Khaled Abdul Majid (Popular Struggle Front), Ziyad al-Saghir (Fatah–Intifada), Mohammad al-Saeed (Liwa al-Quds), and Saed Abdel Al (Free Palestine Movement). Most are believed to have sought refuge in Lebanon.

Sources confirmed that several PFLP-GC fighters have been detained in recent weeks in connection with alleged war crimes committed during their cooperation with Assad’s forces. The Syrian government has also moved to seize faction offices and military installations across the country, including properties belonging to Fatah–Intifada, the Free Palestine Movement, and the Sa’iqa Forces. Sa’iqa’s leader, Mohammad Qais, remains in Syria.

In a further blow, authorities have reportedly frozen bank accounts belonging to some Palestinian factions, both in state and private banks, although it remains unclear whether the PFLP-GC is among them.

Additionally, it is widely believed that the PFLP-GC has handed over its military training camps, which were previously spread across Damascus countryside, Daraa, Aleppo, and Suwayda. “The situation is extremely sensitive, and everyone is anxious,” one Palestinian source told Asharq Al-Awsat. “It’s likely they’ve surrendered those sites.”

The sense of unease deepened last month when Syrian authorities detained two senior Islamic Jihad officials in Damascus: Khaled Khaled, head of the group’s Syria bureau, and Abu Ali Yasser, its chief organizational officer. Both remain in custody, and no official charges have been announced.

The current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty has driven faction leaders to avoid public comment. Most now insist on anonymity when speaking to local or international media.

Before the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, Syria hosted more than a dozen Palestinian factions. As the conflict escalated, the Assad regime encouraged the formation of new pro-regime groups, composed largely of Palestinian refugees, to fight alongside its forces.