Skip to main content

The plight of Syria's children......

The stats out of Syria are horrendous.  Over 60,000 killed in the on-going war and over 700,000 refugees outside the war-torn country.    As for the children?    They are clearly devastated, as this report from Global Voices details.

"An estimated 4,355 Syrian children have been killed (up to 15/1/2013) in the on-going conflict in Syria, according to latest report released by Martyrs of the Syrian Revolution Database. Thousands more have been wounded, detained, or left without family, or access to medical aid and humanitarian assistance.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 650,764 Syrian refugees are registered or awaiting registration inside and outside Syria. More than half of them (52%) are under 18. However, countless Syrian children have been confronted with the anguish of losing their home, their belongings, and parents. The Children's Rights Portal reports:
 

Syrian Children in Crisis, bitter winter adds to suffering. Source: Save the Children
In such conditions, practically all the necessary constants for child development are seriously disrupted, and the psychological damages of armed conflicts are incalculable…. These children, unable to grow up in an atmosphere of trust and having had to face atrocities from a very young age, often develop the conviction that violence is a way like any other to solve disputes, and so it is difficult for them to send a message of peace and international security to future generations."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reading the Chilcot Inquiry Report more closely

Most commentary on the Chilcot Inquiry Report of and associated with the Iraq War, has been "lifted" from the Executive Summary.   The Intercept has actually gone and dug into the Report, with these revelations : "THE CHILCOT REPORT, the U.K.’s official inquiry into its participation in the Iraq War, has finally been released after seven years of investigation. Its executive summary certainly makes former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who led the British push for war, look terrible. According to the report, Blair made statements about Iraq’s nonexistent chemical, biological, and nuclear programs based on “what Mr. Blair believed” rather than the intelligence he had been given. The U.K. went to war despite the fact that “diplomatic options had not been exhausted.” Blair was warned by British intelligence that terrorism would “increase in the event of war, reflecting intensified anti-US/anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim world, including among Muslim communities in the

An unpalatable truth!

Quinoa has for the last years been the "new" food on the block for foodies. Known for its health properties, foodies the world over have taken to it. Many restaurants have added it to their menu. But, as this piece " Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? " from The Guardian so clearly details, the cost to Bolivians and Peruvians - from where quinoa hails - has been substantial. "Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods". Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as

Climate change: Well-organised hoax?

There are still some - all too sadly people with a voice who are listened to - who assert that climate change is a hoax. Try telling that to the people of Colorado who recently experienced horrendous bushfires, or the people of Croatia suffering with endless days of temps of 40 degrees (and not much less than 30 at night time) some 8-10 degrees above the norm. Bill McKibben, take up the issue of whether climate change is a hoax, on The Daily Beast : Please don’t sweat the 2,132 new high temperature marks in June—remember, climate change is a hoax. The first to figure this out was Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who in fact called it “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” apparently topping even the staged moon landing. But others have been catching on. Speaker of the House John Boehner pointed out that the idea that carbon dioxide is “harmful to the environment is almost comical.” The always cautious Mitt Romney scoffed at any damage too: “Scientists will fig