The Syrian Coalition calls for all international organizations concerned with the protection of children to work on “ending humanitarian suffering which is affecting children of Syria and threatening their future.” The Coalition’s statement noted that “more than 10 thousand children have been killed in Syria since the start of the revolution – killed by the organized crime perpetrated by the Assad regime against them after their demands for freedom, dignity and the overthrow of the regime.” He also expressed the Coalition’s disappointment at what an informed source described as political blackmail by “taking hundreds of children hostages in order to put pressure on their families and forcing their parents or siblings to surrender.” The Coalition pointed out that “40% of Syrian children are deprived of education” due to the destruction of “many schools and the converting of some of them to shelters from the hot spots for the displaced.” The Syrian Coalition warned of “the spread of many diseases and epidemics, and that more than 1.6 million Syrian children are in desperate need of polio vaccinations.”
Hisham Marwa, from of the Legal Committee of the Syrian Coalition, criticized “the Assad regime’s use of Syrian children as a means of manipulating public opinion towards Syrians who demand the fall of the regime,” during this year’s Universal Children’s Day. Marwa added that “the regime is trying to build its political glory on the deaths of Syrian children, especially because their little hands that scrawled anti-regime graffiti on the walls were the spark that lit the Syrian Revolution.” Furthermore, Marwa said that the Convention on Children’s Rights called for special treatment for children. Ironically, this is what Assad did, instead of treating them with kindness, Assad, as the sole ruler, made graves the beds of children and chemical weapons to silence a child to death in his father’s lap.” Marwa also said that “on this day all human rights advocates should be ashamed because they could not achieve even basic things for the children of Syria.” Marwa expressed surprise that the “international community ignored the appeals of human rights organizations who demanded that children of Syria be spared from the killing machine being used against them and condemned those who put political interests above human values.” It is worth mentioning that over 10,000 Syrian children have been killed after systematic attacks were waged against unarmed Syrians by the regime since the beginning of the revolution, in addition to the thousands of cases of torture and disabilities resulting from the siege imposed upon rebellious Syrian cities. The member of the legal committee called on international organizations to accelerate the adoption of quick positions to address the phenomenon of polio caused by the siege imposed on the Syrian cities and the blocking of medical aid to them. The World Health Organization has recorded many cases of polio in Deir Ezzor recently after an absence of nearly 14 years. The UN organization added that “Syria is currently at serious risk of polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
