A/HRC/43/57 systematically discriminated against women and girls.43 In Salqin, Idlib Governorate, one woman was stopped by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham when travelling without a male relative and subsequently detained with at least 10 other women in a prison-like facility in Salqin, including one woman who had been arrested for attempting to cross the Syrian border without her husband. 92. In areas controlled by the Government, the ongoing campaigns of conscripting men has confined adult males to their homes and further inhibited their movement across retaken areas such as eastern Ghutah. Female interviewees displaced outside the Syrian Arab Republic, consistently reported how their spouses, fearing conscription or detention, forced them to return home to assess the status of properties, often occupied or looted by warring parties. As many female returnees have either lost or lack property deeds in their names, they faced obstacles in proving ownership and claiming property rights upon their return. 44 C. Children 93. Children’s lives have been scarred by the brutality of the war in the Syrian Arab Republic. Contrary to the principle of the best interests of the child, countrywide, girls and boys have been victimized in numerous ways, continuously denied the special respect and protection they are entitled to under international humanitarian and international human rights law.45 94. As violence increased in the north-east of the Syrian Arab Republic from October onwards (paras. 46–53), approximately 150 schools closed down in Tall Abyad and Ra’s alAyn, depriving scores of children of access to schooling. Overwhelmed by the growing number of displaced persons, at least 60 schools in Hasakah and Qamishli Cities were temporarily transformed into shelters for displaced persons, which resulted in the suspension of classes for at least 17,000 pupils. Around 20 schools were reported to have been destroyed in Ra’s al-Ayn, including Khed Derei school, which was damaged on 11 October. The school hosted approximately 1,500 students. 95. Syrian women with familial links to ISIL fighters continued to face obstacles in registering their children with the competent authorities upon their return to governmentcontrolled areas.46 Mothers of children born in areas retaken by the Government, such as eastern Ghutah, encounter similar challenges since authorities do not accept civil documentation provided by armed groups. Such decisions substantially compromise children’s right to acquire a nationality, 47 as well as access to health and education, and further expose them to the risks of child exploitation and trafficking. 96. Children are particularly vulnerable when forced to relocate to displacement camps. As with Rukban camp (paras. 85–87), tens of thousands of children in Hawl, around 1,200 of whom are unaccompanied, remain stranded with marginal access to food, clean water, medical care and education. Girls and boys, many of whom are orphaned, were adversely affected by the continuously deteriorating conditions in the camp, with children suffering from malnutrition, infectious diseases and measles. 97. Inside camps in areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, foreign children with familial links to ISIL fighters continued languishing in despair while increasingly vulnerable to abuse, years after they were brought into the country. Given the deplorable decision of many Governments of origin to refuse repatriation, 48 thousands of 43 44 45 46 47 48 See conference room paper “‘I lost my dignity’: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic” (A/HRC/37/CRP.3), footnote 6. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/Documentation.aspx. A/HRC/42/51, para. 92. See Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 135. A/HRC/42/51 paras. 93–94. Convention on the Rights of the Child, arts. 2 and 7. See also the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 24. As of November, 17 countries had repatriated children. See www.unicef.org/pressreleases/governments-should-repatriate-foreign-children-stranded-syria-its-too-late. 17