Syria: displaced children caught between violence and
freezing cold
 |
| Internally displaced children look out from a tent in Azaz |
Over half a million children have been displaced because of
the violence and harsh winter weather in northwest Syria.
By Vatican News
A report, made public on Tuesday by UNICEF, gives details of
how over 500,000 children have had to flee their homes in northwest Syria both
because of intensified violence in the area, and due to freezing cold weather
conditions.
Ten of thousands of these children are now living in tents,
and many in the open air, exposed to the cold and rain. As the weather
continues to get colder in the region, organizations like UNICEF are trying to
raise awareness of the plight of these children, and all those who are
internally displaced without adequate protection against the elements.
Last winter, at least 130 children died on their way to, or
soon after arriving at, the Al Hol refugee camp in northwest Syria. 77 children
have been killed or injured since the beginning of this year alone, as a result
of an escalation in the violence and fighting in the area.
UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, has described the
situation as “untenable, even by Syria’s grim standards”. “Children and
families are caught between the violence, the biting cold, the lack of food and
the desperate living conditions”, she says. “
“Such abject disregard for the safety and wellbeing of
children and families is beyond the pale and must not go on.”
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét