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Rabat – The 6-year-old Syrian boy Fawaz Al-Qatifan who was kidnapped last November was finally released on February 12 against the payment of a ransom of 500 million Syrian pounds ($200,000), paid by his parents.
After more than four months of ordeal, Fawaz was reunited with his parents last night. The video of their reunion was widely shared on social media, and s netizens from Syria and many other countries expressed their relief after seeing him returning home.
The Syrian Interior Ministry took to Facebook to affirm that Fawaz was released and is in good health.
The little Fawaz, from the Ibta’a town in the Daraa Governorate of southern Syria, was kidnapped in November 2021. Eyewitnesses stated that masked men intercepted the boy on his way home from school and kidnapped him.
A video of Fawaz held as hostage and being brutally beaten by his kidnappers had provoked very strong reactions from Internet users, with many demanding the Syrian authorities to intervene.
The hashtags #SaveFawaz and #Save_Ibta’a_Child started trending in several Arab countries as the video, which shows the boy in his underwear being beaten, crying, and saying “For god’s sake, please do not hit me!” went viral.
“According to the sources, the gang left the child in a pharmacy in the city of Nawa in Daraa countryside,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.
After Fawaz’s rescue, the SOHR renewed its call for the immediate release of other kidnapped people. In a press release, it noted, “the fate of hundreds of kidnapped Syrians remains unknown as their cases have not been publicized.”
Fawaz’s story emerged during the same time Moroccan 5-year-old Rayan was trapped in a well. The world empathized with both tragic stories and showed solidarity with their families and loved ones.
Rayan was freed after being stuck in the well for five days, but soon passed away.
Read Also: #SaveFawaz: Activists Mobilize to Demand Rescue of Kidnapped Syrian Child
