Teenage boys are being routinely separated from their mothers in detention camps in north-east Syria, causing them irreparable harm and a “violation of international law”, according to a UN expert.

Returning from a five-day visit to Syria, Fionnuala Ní Aolain told reporters in Geneva that she had seen “hundreds of teenagers separated from their mothers without any legal basis”. This practice is mainly followed with citizens of other countries, except Syria and Iraq. It is justified because of the “unproven security risk these boys pose when they reach puberty,” he explained, asserting that he has seen even 11-year-olds separated from their mothers.

“All the children I met were clearly psychologically traumatized by their separation,” he added, underlining that this “systematic practice of forced separation (…) constitutes a clear violation of international law.”

Fionnuala Ní Aolain is the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the fight against terrorism. She is the first UN human rights expert to gain access to detention camps and prisons in Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria. An estimated 52,000 jihadists and their family members are held in al-Hol and Roh camps, where violence is endemic. 60% are minors and most are under 12 years old, Ni Aolain said.

Although he admitted that the situation in the region is “complex” in terms of security and politics, he stressed that nothing justifies the “massive, arbitrary and indefinite detention of children”. He also called for their repatriation to be “urgently” organized, stressing that, apart from local authorities, supported by the US, all the countries of origin of these children will be held accountable for any human rights violations.

Western countries have been criticized for refusing to repatriate more of their citizens who fled to Iraq and Syria to join jihadist groups such as Islamic State. There has been “some relatively positive movement”, since the camps used to house 70,000 people, but at the current rate of repatriations they will be in operation “for at least another 20 years”, explained Fionnuala Ní Aolain.

“Think what that means for a two-year-old living in one of these places today. “No one seems to realize that international law is being violated as children are detained for an endless period of time, from the cradle to the grave,” he added. He also noted that countries of origin typically repatriate only women and children, meaning boys who have reached puberty will likely have nowhere to go.

Ni Aolain also complained that she was not given access to the “annex” of the Al Hall camp, where 10,000 foreigners are held.