Syrian children have borne the brunt of the war being waged by the Assad regime and the Iranian-backed militias on the Syrian people, a report by Anadolu Agency has said. The war has also affected even those children who have been displaced from their homes, the report added.
The report highlighted the suffering the Syrian people, especially children, have been facing for nearly six years. Those Syrians who have fled to other countries continue to be haunted by memories of scenes of destruction, murder, and displacement from their homes.
The report cited the plight of orphaned children who were displaced from Aleppo in the wake of the regime takeover of the city in late 2016. It also cited stories of old people who gave harrowing account of life in besieged eastern Aleppo and the suffering they had to go through to cross into Turkish territory.
The report identified poor logistics and lack of transportation means as a direct cause of the death of many civilians as ambulances were not able to transfer all the injured to hospitals. Many children arrived in Turkey with deteriorating health and gaunt faces telling the unspeakable horrors they went through.
A picture of the horrors taking place in Syria and the scale of civilian causalities was offered by a Syrian refugee who said he learned about the death of his brother, his wife, and their son through social media websites. The refugee, who declined to reveal his name, said that the family had to be buried in a single grave for lack of space in the cemetery.
An estimated 3.7 million Syrian children – 1 in 3 of all Syrian children – have been born since the conflict began five years ago. Their lives have been shaped by violence, fear and displacement, according to a UNICEF report.
In total, UNICEF estimates that some 8.4 million children – more than 80 per cent of Syria’s child population – are now affected by the conflict, either inside the country or as refugees in neighboring countries. Around two million Syrian refugee children need psychiatric support. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Office + Anadolu Agency)
