At least 910 children were killed in Syria in 2017, making it the deadliest year since the war began in 2011, according to United Nations (UN) aid official reports.
UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis Panos Moumtzis and UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore addressed a high-level panel discussion looking at rights violations against children caught in the fighting, reported UN News.
In 2017, documentation of violations of children’s rights during the conflict – by all sides – was the highest since the beginning of the conflict. Simply put, 2017 was the deadliest year of the Syrian war for children.Panos Moumtzis, UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, to UN News
According to UN News, the numbers were put out by The Syria Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, which also stated that large majority of child casualties occurred in Idleb, Aleppo and Deir-ez-Zor, and other locations.
Moumtzis also said children make up over 40 percent of the 13.1 million people inside Syria who require life-saving humanitarian assistance, adding that 6,63,000 children under the age of five are in acute need.
He also expressed concern over continued reports of the recruitment and use of children in the fighting by all sides.
“The scale, scope and gravity of crimes committed against children are shocking. Widespread human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law affecting or targeting children are being committed by the Syrian authorities. And perpetrated too by armed groups”, UN News quoted Gilmore as saying.
Children are arrested and detained for their family’s alleged association with opposing armed forces. Girls, in particular, are subjected to sexual violence, including rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery by armed groups.Kate Gilmore, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
Gilmore said the years of unending fighting means millions of Syrian children have been denied their fundamental human rights and robbed of their childhood.
(With inputs from UN News)
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