UN: Syrian war has uprooted 1 million children
The 1 million children who have fled Syria, and the 2 million displaced within the country, have been largely unable to get an education or receive help coping.
The 1 million children who have fled Syria, and the 2 million displaced within the country, have been largely unable to get an education or receive help coping.
鈥� A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
One million children, three-quarters of them under age 11, have had to flee violence in Syria since the conflict began in 2011. The grim figure was released by UN agencies Friday morning.
鈥淭his one millionth child refugee is not just another number,鈥� said Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF, the UN children鈥檚 agency. "This is a real child ripped from home, maybe even from a family, facing horrors we can only begin to comprehend."
The statistic was released as the UN pushes for immediate investigation of an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus. The Syrian government refuted the聽accusation, calling it聽鈥渋llogical and fabricated,鈥� according to the BBC.
"But unverified footage shows civilians 鈥� many of them children 鈥� apparently suffering horrific symptoms, as well as rows of shrouded bodies," the BBC reports. "Chemical weapons experts have told the BBC that footage appears genuine and that the injuries shown are consistent with nerve agents."
On Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon renewed calls for UN inspectors to be allowed to investigate the claims immediately.
"I can think of no good reason why any party, either government or opposition forces 鈥� would decline this opportunity to get to the truth of the matter," the UN chief said, according to Reuters.
As the Daily Beast reports, the UN is acting quickly as pressure mounts across the globe in the face of the allegations.
Syria has become, according to the UN, the聽worst refugee crisis since the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Some 100,000 people have been
killed since protests broke out against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. Refugees have been fleeing to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, and increasingly North Africa and Europe.
Children are among the most vulnerable.聽While 1聽million have been聽forced to flee the violence,聽the UN says that 2 million others are displaced within the country. "The youth of Syria are losing their homes, their family members and their futures," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.
Education is a top longterm concern, as these children are part of a so-called 鈥渓ost generation鈥� that won鈥檛 easily be able to bring stability to their country in the future, says the BBC鈥檚 Imogen Foulkes. Few have been able to study or receive psychological counseling.
As 海角大神 reported in April:聽
On Friday, UNICEF officials urged the international community to respond to the problem, which it says belongs to everybody. "We must all share the shame," said UNICEF's Mr. Lake, "Because while we work to alleviate the suffering of those affected by this crisis, the global community has failed in its responsibility to this child. We should stop and ask ourselves how, in all conscience, we can continue to fail the children of Syria."聽
But Michael Gerson in The Washington Post shows the limits on countries that are responding to Syrian children who have been forced to leave their homes.