Geneva: Prolonged exposure to violence and stress, multiple displacement, loss of friends and family members, and a severe deterioration in living conditions are leaving children in Syria with lasting scars, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has said.
“Parents report that their children are experiencing frequent nightmares and exhibiting reckless and aggressive behaviours,” Maria Calivis, Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said Tuesday.
“Bedwetting is common and children have become more withdrawn and clingy. Their drawings are often violent and angry with images of bloodshed, explosions and destruction,” she said.
Unicef estimates that more than four million children are affected by the ongoing conflict.
“Children who have undergone profound stress can lose the ability to connect emotionally to others and to themselves,” said Jane MacPhail, a Unicef child protection expert working with children in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan.
“Basic feelings can stop and children find themselves unable to think ahead or remember recent events.” Whether inside Syria or in the neighbouring countries, in shelters for displaced persons, refugee camps or host communities, Unicef has been working with partners and families to help children regain a sense of security, give them opportunities to express themselves, and help them develop constructive ways to cope with the conflict.
This includes child-friendly spaces where children can play and engage in recreational and sports activities. It also includes training teachers and school counsellors to provide support and refer children in need to more specialised care. (IANS)
Since the beginning of the year, nearly 470,000 Syrian children have received emotional support in more than 220 child-friendly spaces, as well as in alternative learning environments like school clubs.
The numbers include 250,000 children in Syria, 128,000 in Lebanon, 80,000 in Jordan, 5,500 in Iraq and 5,000 in Turkey.
Inside Syria, Unicef and partners have kept centres open and functional even in areas where conflict has been most intense like Homs, Dera’a and Aleppo, providing vital support to children experiencing some of the conflict’s most intense violence.
“Helping children deal with fears and insecurity is not a luxury,” Calivis said.
“Parents who see their children reconnecting with their childhood have become our best advocates for this service.”
Of Unicef’s $470 million appeal for Syria and the region, a total of $55 million was requested for child protection activities. -IANS/WAM
First group of Syrian refugees to relocate in Germany
After registering more than two million refugees from Syria in neighbouring countries, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has announced that the first group of over 100 refugees will leave Lebanon to be relocated in Germany Wednesday. “On Wednesday, 107 highly vulnerable Syrian refugees are due to leave Lebanon under a temporary Humanitarian Admissions Programme that was announced by Germany in March of this year,” UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming said at a press briefing Tuesday at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The group is headed for Hanover. “On arrival, the refugees are being transferred to an accommodation centre in Friedland in Lower Saxony where they will stay for 14 days,” where they will be offered basic language training and basic information on Germany, said Fleming.
At the end of the two-week period, the refugees will leave for locations across Germany. They will be accommodated in small centres or apartments and will have full access to medical, educational and other social services.
During their stay, the refugees will have the right to work. The residence permit issued for these refugees will be of for two years, with the option for extension if the situation in Syria remains unchanged, according to Fleming.
Germany’s Humanitarian Assistance Programme provides for up to 5,000 places for Syrian refugees, and as such is the biggest relocation programme currently for the Syrian crisis.
Fleming expressed the UN refugee agency’s hopes to see more countries offering places for Syrian refugees outside their current annual quotas and allowing for expedited processing. (IANS)