UN: 14 million children suffering from wars in Syria and Iraq

BARCELONA, Spain - Around 14 million children are suffering from the escalating conflicts in Syria and Iraq, according to the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF.

“For the youngest children, this crisis is all they have ever known. For adolescents entering their formative years, violence and suffering have not only scarred their past; they are shaping their futures,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.

“As the crisis enters its fifth year, this generation of young people is still in danger of being lost to a cycle of violence - replicating in the next generation what they suffered in their own,” he warned in a statement from Geneva.

He added that the plight of more than 5.6 million children inside Syria remains the most desperate.

“That includes up to 2 million children who are living in areas of the country largely cut off from humanitarian assistance due to fighting or other factors. Some 2.6 million Syrian children are still out of school,” the statement said.

It also noted that almost 2 million Syrian children are living as refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and other countries. This is in addition to the 3.6 million children from vulnerable communities hosting refugees, who themselves are suffering due to the strain on services like education and health.

Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, itself straining under a war with ISIS and an economic crisis aggravated by Baghdad’s refusal to honor budget commitments, is hosting some 1.4 million refugees and displaced persons from Syria and other parts of Iraq.

The UNICEF statement said that the increasingly interlinked crisis gripping Iraq has forced more than 2.8 million children from their homes, and left many trapped in areas controlled by armed groups.

UNICEF also hailed the bravery of many children and young people in the present conflict and has made a special website where children recounting stories.

One such is that of 16-year-old Alaa, who fled his home in the war-torn city of Homs, and is today continuing his studies while leading training courses for other children; 10-year-old Christina, living in a shelter in the north of Iraq, helps even younger children with their lessons.

“Despite the harm they have suffered, the wrongs they have endured, and the apparent inability of adults to bring an end to this horrific conflict, the children affected by this crisis still have courage and determination to build better lives,” said Lake.

The statement coincided with 21 human rights organizations criticizing world powers for failing to implement UN Security Council resolutions to alleviate the crisis in Syria.

The Syrian war, now going into its fifth year, has claimed more than 210,000 lives and has extended to several parts of Iraq.

The UN has called the Syrian crisis “the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era.”