Universal Children’s Day… Syria: The Worst Place in the World
I- Executive Summary:
Four ongoing years of bloodshed, destruction, shelling and killing had its adverse effects on Syrian children. We recorded by name and image the death of 18858 children who were killed by government forces, including 582 children who were killed by sniper bullets. Not less than 10413 children were arrested, not less than 159 children died under torture in government prisons and sexual abuse was committed against several children.
Kurdish Self Management Forces (KSM) killed 46 children and arrested not less than 194 children to be forcibly recruited.
International Coalition forces killed 75 children since its airstrikes commenced on 23 September 2014, while Russian forces killed not less than 86 children since 30 September 2015.
Syrian children were not spared from other violations. ISIL killed 229 children, arrested not less than 595 children and recruited hundreds of them. Al Nusra Front killed 46 children and arrested not less than 84.
Armed Opposition Groups killed 603 children, arrested not less than 1021 children and used some of them in military actions.
The siege that has been imposed on Eastern Ghouta caused severe cases of malnutrition. The ongoing conflict deprived not less than 2.1 million children of education in Syria since their schools were shelled destroyed or became military locations for government forces. Not less than 20 thousand children have become fatherless and almost 5 thousand children became motherless.
Not less than 117000 children were born in refugee camps which many of them did not obtain any identification documents. These children, who have been growing up in tents or camps, are deprived from the most essential human rights, the right of living in dignity, obtaining identification cards, the right of obtaining citizenship, and the right of receiving proper education.
