Thousands of Syrian children affected by trauma, unwanted by the international community, and courted by Islamic extremists may be cornered into jihadism.
According to the NGO Save the Children at least a quarter of a million Syrian children are living ‘under brutal siege’. Their homes ‘have effectively been turned into open-air prisons’ where they endure ‘enormous suffering and injustice’.
What’s in store for these children who’ll grow to shape the Syria of the future?
Right now, evidence suggests that they’re on a path to long-term psychological issues – and radicalisation.
To date, the civil war has claimed at least 200,000 lives and displaced approximately 8 million inside Syria. Close to 650,000 people are living in areas under regime besiegement, completely cut off from humanitarian access. 12 million Syrians inside of the country are in need of humanitarian assistance (Abboud, S, 2016).
The numbers are staggering. The conflict has created 4 million refugees and yet, as the violence and desperation worsens, many among the international community tighten their borders and reject the desperate appeals for refugee status, out of fear of exposing their states to Islamic extremism.
Jordan accepted Syrian refugees, but after a suicide car attack that killed Jordanian soldiers in June 2016, the country restricted all access to refugees – even to the UN and other aid agencies that would deliver food, water and medical care…Click HERE to read full article.
