A Syrian child’s sad graze amid civil war
The number of Syrian children forced to flee their homeland as refugees reaches one million.
Story:
One million Syrian children have been forced to leave their country after more than two years of civil conflict that has seen hundreds-of-thousands perish, said the United Nations on Friday.
One million Syrian children have been forced to leave their country after more than two years of civil conflict that has seen hundreds-of-thousands perish, said the United Nations on Friday.
Children make up half of all refugees from the Syria conflict, according to UNICEF and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also known as the UN refugee agency.
Most have arrived in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, though increasingly, Syrians are fleeing to North Africa and Europe.
Latest figures show that some seven-hundred-and-forty-thousand Syrian child refugees are under the age of 11.
In the Za’atari refugee camp in neighbouring Jordan—home to one-hundred-and-thirty-thousand Syrians—children are led in exercise routines and games to keep them entertained.
But for many, memories are as vivid as they have ever been.
[Iman, 11-year-old Refugee from Dera'a]:
“The principal told us the army was going to take over our school. I asked if I could go away for a few days to a nearby town and he said ‘yes’. During those days we saw rockets flying right above us and we hid from them. Then my uncle said we will leave for Za’atari. It’s safe here, even if home is better. Here we can go to sleep in peace and we never worry about attacks. Sometimes we hear fireworks and think we are being attacked again, but we’re just imagining it.”
“The principal told us the army was going to take over our school. I asked if I could go away for a few days to a nearby town and he said ‘yes’. During those days we saw rockets flying right above us and we hid from them. Then my uncle said we will leave for Za’atari. It’s safe here, even if home is better. Here we can go to sleep in peace and we never worry about attacks. Sometimes we hear fireworks and think we are being attacked again, but we’re just imagining it.”
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says some seven-thousand children have been killed in conflict in Syria and more than two-million children have been internally displaced.
The physical upheaval, fear, stress and trauma experienced by so many children account for just part of the human crisis.
Both agencies also highlight the threats to refugee children from child labor, early marriage and the potential for sexual exploitation and trafficking.
More than three-thousand-five-hundred children in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq have crossed Syria’s borders either unaccompanied or separated from their families.
The largest humanitarian operation in history has seen UNHCR and UNICEF mobilizing support to millions of affected families and children.
(Source - http://www.ntd.tv/en/news/world/middle-east-/-africa/20130823/82416-number-of-syrian-child-refugees-reaches-one-million.html)
(Source - http://www.ntd.tv/en/news/world/middle-east-/-africa/20130823/82416-number-of-syrian-child-refugees-reaches-one-million.html)
Beyond - AMANI, Shout out for peace!
Amani is written by the late Wong Ka Kui 黃家駒 of Hong Kong band -Beyond.
This song reminds people of the suffering of children during the war. Although it is a very simple song, but the meaning is deep.
Amani Nakupenda Wewe.
African language, “AMANI” means PEACE; “NAKUPENDA NAKUPENDA WE WE” means “I love you”LYRICS -
＊無助與冰凍的眼睛
流淚看天際帶悲憤
是控訴戰爭到最後傷痛是兒童 ＊
流淚看天際帶悲憤
是控訴戰爭到最後傷痛是兒童 ＊
Eyes that are hopeless and cold
Look to the sky with tear and despair
Accusing the consequence of wars, leaving children to suffer
Look to the sky with tear and despair
Accusing the consequence of wars, leaving children to suffer
天 天空可見飛鳥 驚慌展翅飛舞
穿梭天際只想覓自由
心 千億顆愛心碎 今天一切厄困
彷彿真理消失在地球
穿梭天際只想覓自由
心 千億顆愛心碎 今天一切厄困
彷彿真理消失在地球
Sky, sky is full of soaring birds
Gliding along with quaking wings
Shooting up the sky in search of freedom
Heart, thousands of hearts are broken
All the miseries today
Seem like truth has disappeared from the earth
Gliding along with quaking wings
Shooting up the sky in search of freedom
Heart, thousands of hearts are broken
All the miseries today
Seem like truth has disappeared from the earth
權力與擁有的鬥爭
愚昧與偏見的爭鬥
若這裡戰爭到最後怎會是和平
愚昧與偏見的爭鬥
若這裡戰爭到最後怎會是和平
Battles between power and possession
Fights between ignorance and prejudice
If wars never end, how can peace be possible
Fights between ignorance and prejudice
If wars never end, how can peace be possible
A supporter of Egypt’s ousted president Mohamed Morsi holds his children tight as Egyptian security forces move in to disperse pro-Islamist protesters by force in a huge camp in Cairo’s Al-Nahda square on August 14.
Footage of victims in suspected Syrian chemical attack – Aug 23, 2013
Syrian children who fled their home take refuge at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing last month in hopes of entering one of the refugee camps in Turkey, near the Syrian town of Azaz. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)