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DOUBLE CATASTROPHE
VOICES FROM A WAR ON CHILDHOOD
December 2013: A report marking 1,000 days of violence in Syria
During the course of summer 2013, War Child UK conducted field research with Syrian refugees in Jordan. We met with approximately 130 people (some of which were living over 20 to a household; others were smaller family sets of three people). The focus of our research was on the situation of children both inside and outside Syria and building a better understanding of the interrelation between the two. Interviews centred on open questions that allowed for elaboration by families and children and did not plan for any specific outcomes from the study in order to get an honest picture of the situation. Interviews were conducted through different contexts and in six different locations across villages, town and camps in Northern Jordan. The methods comprised of:
• One male and one female/mixed Focus Group in a Jordanian village bordering Syria. • Visits to Urban refugees in and around Irbid city in Jordan. • Visits to village-‐based refugees bordering Syria and Israel. • Family visits in Ramsa and Zaatari Refugee camps.
War Child UK also conducted a Rapid Needs Assessment in Zaatari refugee camp over the course of summer 2013 which helped inform this report and the programmes we run.
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“Every bad thing you can imagine has happened in Syria” -‐ a Mother in a refugee camp, Jordan
As the Syrian conflict reaches 1,000 days it has multiple frontlines and frontiers: inside the country instability and violence have torn apart the lives of children and communities, whilst over its borders children once again face threats to their safety and their childhoods. This conflict is now a double catastrophe. 12 children on average have been killed per day and it is no coincidence, therefore, that every hour 174 children are forced to flee their homes. When speaking to War Child UK, a 14 year old boy in Jordan described it from his point of view; “They are slaughtering and killing children in Syria. So they are running away from there”. And there is nowhere to hide. More than 2.2 million refugees have been forced to flee their country, a decision that is unimaginably painful to make. More than half the refugees from Syria are children. The attempt to escape also holds some deadly risks for families. One mother and father told War Child that while making their escape with their own two children, “We witnessed a child being killed at the border.”
Having risked life and limb to escape the violence, children once again face the threat of violations like sexual violence and a lack of basic services like healthcare, as refugees. Through our research, it became apparent that many families fled Syria under extreme duress, and are in need of urgent emotional support and assistance. As one father who had escaped to a village in Jordan told War Child, “at the moment, every child inside Syria is in need of psychological treatment. They are scared—all the time”. These children have been spared death, but they have seen and heard things no one ever should. This report stems from the request made to us by each of the families with whom we spoke in neighbouring Jordan: to make sure their voices were heard. We hope this report will contribute to putting a human face to this tragedy, a conflict which is arguably the most extreme for civilians in modern history.
Rob Williams Chief Executive, War Child
“Our message to decision owners is to help our children. To understand our needs and our miserable life. Tell them, take our voice to them. We cannot take it anymore.” -‐ a Mother of three
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STATISTICS From 1,000 days of the Syrian conflict
• 12 children on average are being killed per day.
• Over 12,000 children have been killed since the conflict began.
• 174 children are forced to flee their homes every hour.
• The combined effect of the conflict is jeopardising 2.5 million children’s
education.
• 4,278,000 children inside Syria are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
• Between 200 and 500 refugees arrive in Jordan every day. More than half of
those are children, including roughly 60 under 5 years old.
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PART ONE: FORCED TO FLEE
Almost 5.5 million children have already been affected by the Syria crisis as it creeps towards its third anniversary. Children have repeatedly and continually been killed, maimed, detained, tortured, raped and caught up in every element of a war that is not theirs. They have been innocent bystanders yet they have been singled out and targeted by all parties to the conflict.
Inside Syria there is little to no protection for children and families facing these gross violations. 6.5 million Syrians have been displaced inside their own country, leaving their homes and all they know behind, almost three million of whom are children. Services are overwhelmed by the demand and damaged infrastructure, whilst the very basics needed for survival, like food and water, become increasingly scarce.
And what about the estimated 340,000 pregnant women inside Syria? Whose babies will be born into mass violence and threats to their lives?
We asked parents and children about why they had to leave Syria and their messages to the world.
“They are slaughtering our children, we had to leave Syria!” -‐ a Mother
“They are beating children to break the father’s heart... My children asked me, ‘if [they] come, will they shoot me or slaughter me?’ And then they ask me to hide them away”. -‐ A Father “Inside Syria there was a rocket every five minutes. My children had to try and sleep in-‐between each rocket...they woke up screaming.” -‐ a Mother of three
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“We saw lots of children who had been killed at check-‐points. They all had their fingers cut off”. -‐ 13-‐year-‐old girl
“They bombed and demolished my school...they don’t want my generation to be studying.” -‐ a 13-‐year-‐old girl “My house was demolished. I don’t have a home anymore. They stole my bike and they should bring it back to me in Jordan.” -‐ a five-‐year-‐old boy A seven-‐year-‐old boy who had been detained told us, “they beat my father in front of me”. -‐ a seven-‐year-‐old Boy “In the area where I am from, one child of 12 was detained and beaten. The rest of the children were mutilated with knives in front of their mothers. Our relatives saw this situation and ran to tell us.” -‐ a Mother of six
“I was playing with friends and a plane dropped a bomb, so everyone in the village told us to run away... we ran to our house and they bombed it. I fell unconscious...there were seven children and one old lady killed inside the house.” -‐ a 13-‐year-‐old boy
“We saw the children of our neighbours have their nails ripped out”. He added, “I saw children’s bodies cut up into pieces with my own eyes...” -‐ a Father of two
“I saw it with my own eyes, children’s hands tied behind their backs and they had been set on fire. “I also saw children cut up”, he said as he gestured to indicate that their bodies had been mutilated.” “I’ve seen many, many women who’ve had babies cut out of their stomachs to kill them [the unborn babies].” -‐ a Grandfather “I’m afraid of rockets and bullets.” -‐ a five-‐year-‐old boy “That’s why we left... in my village they took 200 of us – families -‐adults and children -‐ to make a human fence” Father of two A five-‐year-‐old boy was asked by War Child what would make his life better now that he was outside of Syria, this very young boy answered:
“I want a gun so I can fight...”
The next generation cannot wait.
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PART TWO: NO REFUGE
The Syria conflict is doubly cruel. For those who manage to escape the
violence inside Syria, their battle for safety, security and basic services is
far from over. As refugees—whether in camps, villages, cities, or with
host families—they once again face the fear and threat of violations to
their human rights.
An estimated 5,000 Syrians are fleeing the country every day and the
crisis is becoming known as the worst of the 21st century following a
statement from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees: "[Syria is] a
disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement
unparalleled in recent history."
Of the now more than 2.2 million refugees in (primarily) Iraq, Turkey,
Jordan and Lebanon, only 20 percent have received some kind of
counselling and only 118,000 children have been able to continue their
education in some way. War Child’s own assessment in Zaatari camp in
Jordan, home to more than 60,000 children under 18, revealed that 80%
of children were not receiving an education. Humanitarian agencies are
warning of a "lost generation".
Children face a lack of access to education or safe places to play, the
threat of recruitment into fighting inside Syria, rape and sexual violence,
shootings, killings, and death from disease and lack of services. The fears
are real and prevent people from living their lives with any sense of
normality. The families we spoke to in Jordan’s villages and refugee
camps, told us that they did not let their children go outside for fear of
anything bad happening to them. One example was a father who told
us, “We are afraid to go to the bathrooms and wash because it is not
separated for children... we are afraid of sexual violence”.
Many families in Jordan have left the Zaatari refugee camp because of
the lack of support or protection, only to face more challenges with
even less assistance upon their escape. 77 percent of Syrian refugees in
Jordan live outside the camps.
"Syria is haemorrhaging women, children and men who cross borders often with little more than the clothes on their backs." -‐ UNHCR
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We spoke to over 136 people inside and outside the camps in Jordan who told us about their daily lives and risks for their children.
The impact of invisible conflict elements cannot
be forgotten. Fear of sexual violence should not
be underestimated; it has often been a primary
motivation for Syrians to flee the country. But
even when they have fled the protections are so
little that the threat continues.
A 22-‐year-‐old young woman we spoke to was a
shocking example. Her family fled Syria after her
father heard about girls being targeted for sexual
violence.
When we met the family, her father asked us to
come and meet his daughter privately. They have
been in Jordan for four months but he is very
worried about her.
“We first went to Zaatari camp.
On our first night there she went
to the toilet but came back
screaming and very upset. She
would not tell me what happened.
We found out that she had been
attacked by a man and raped near
the toilets. I have three daughters.
Zaatari is not a safe place. I had to
take the family out the next day
and we came to live here [in the
village].”
They are renting a small room in a village house.
The young woman’s father is desperate to make
sure that the rest of the village does not find out
what happened to her, but he fears she may be
pregnant. In Syria, she was in her third year of
university, studying business administration.
Now her future looks very different. She does not
say much. We ask her how she is feeling.
“I am dead”, she says. “I feel dead
inside”.
Witnessing extreme violence is also harrowing for
children.
We spoke to a mother of two in Zaatari camp in
Jordan.
Her two young children watched on as two men
started to beat her. They stripped her clothes off
and then raped her one after the other in front of
them. The mother spoke of the impact on her
children of the violation committed against her.
“My children were terrified,” she
says. “My oldest is four. He cries
all the time and screams in the
night.”
All refugees entering Jordan have to go through
one of its refugee camps to gain access to the
country. But it is no surprise that many cannot
cope in Zaatari camp and attempt to seek refuge
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“One boy inside the school said Syrian children were diseased so they won’t play with us or let us into the school.” -‐ a 13-‐year-‐old girl
in overcrowded cities or remote villages instead.
In one home in an overcrowded urban city in
Jordan, there were 20 people living in one small,
damp flat. 14 of them were children; some had
ribs protruding visibly from their chests, others
had their hair falling out from stress and lack of
food. A nine-‐year-‐old Girl came over to tell us “in
Zaatari my father was so sick so we had no
choice, we had to leave there”.
Refugees like this living outside of camps, have
little to no way of accessing assistance for their
survival let alone to create a semblance of their
former lives.
The nine-‐year-‐old continued to tell us how this is
impacting her life; “They won’t let me into the
Madrassa [school] because my face is yellow
because I have no food. They think because I am
yellow that I have a disease. One boy inside the
school said Syrian children were diseased so they
won’t play with us or let us into the school. One
Jordanian girl wouldn’t sit next to my sister
because they think she is ill. I don’t leave the
home”.
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IMPACT ON CHILDREN
The testimonies included here on life in Syria and in the refugee camps, towns and villages for Syrian refugees in Jordan offer only a small glimpse of the daily reality for children affected by this conflict. Millions of children are missing school; witnessing, experiencing or being threatened by violence, sexual and physical abuse and torture; and lack access to the basic goods and services they need to survive. Children have lost their homes, their friends, and family members. Most of all, they have lost their childhoods. Humanitarian access in Syria has been denied. Outside of Syria, humanitarian organisations are struggling to cope with the overwhelming demand.
“If you ask a child to draw you a picture with flowers or other pretty things, they will just draw guns and bombs. All they have on their mind is bombs” -‐ a 20-‐year-‐old young man
“My girls were so clever; they were top of their class. Now, they have forgotten how to read and write...it is because of trauma”. -‐ a Mother
This war on childhood is beyond borders.
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WAR CHILD’S ACTION
War Child is currently working in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan which is host to over 60,000 children and which continues to grow, with a fluctuating population. War Child began implementing recreational activities in mid-‐September 2013 with a focus on increasing marginalised children’s’ access to an education and providing psychosocial care.
We give children a space where they can be safe; interact with their peers who have been through experiences like theirs and give some escapism for them to regain some resemblance of their childhood. Education is a key part of that childhood: War Child are working with partners to make sure some of the most vulnerable children can catch up on the learning they have been forced to miss out on.
We receive an average of about 60 children two days a week for the recreational, creative, numeracy and literacy activities. We also run a group psychosocial programme which is build around peer-‐to-‐peer therapy, called the ‘IDEALS’. This hosts 100 children in four groups (equal boys and girls) twice a week to talk about their experiences and begin the healing process.
Our current appeal is to raise funds for a new project that would enable us to expand our work outside of the refugee camp, where thousands of children remain inaccessible to services or too hidden to receive help.
Donations up until January 2013 have double the potential, with the UK Government matching our appeal pound for pound to help even more Syrian children.
Donate at www.warchild.org.uk/syriaappeal
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War Child UK Linton House, 39-‐51 Highgate Road
London, NW5 1RT
www.warchild.org.uk
ABOUT THIS REPORT This report is about a double catastrophe for the children of Syria. The situation in Syria is so extreme that families are forced to make the decision to leave all they know and love and become refugees in neighbouring countries. The refuge they have sought is then often denied due to lack of protection and services; and children once again face grave violations and threats. The two sections of this report aim to demonstrate the callous nature of this conflict and its impact on children both inside Syria and outside Syria in refugee camps, villages and towns where children and their families have fled to try and find safety. Over the last few months, we have gathered testimony from refugees in Jordan. Some have recently fled Syria and some have been refugees since the bombing started. All of them need their voices heard.
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1. The Oxford Research Group estimates that 11,420 children died from the beginning of the crisis on March 15, 2011, to the end of August 2013. The crisis has now been ongoing for 1,000 days, giving an average of more than 12 child deaths per day. Oxford Research Group, November 2013, ‘Stolen Futures: The Hidden Toll of Child Casualties in Syria’, pp 1. Available: http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/sites/default/files/Stolen%20Futures.pdf
2. The total displaced child population comprises 1,186,891 Internally Displaced People and 2,990,000 refugees, totalling 4,176,891 children. It is now 24,000 hours since the conflict began, giving an average of more than 174 children forced to flee each hour. UNICEF, November 2013, ‘Syria Crisis: Bi-‐weekly humanitarian situation report: 15-‐28 November 2013’, pp1. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNICEF%20Syria%20Regional%20Crisis%20Humanitarian%20SitRep%20-‐%2028%20NOV%202013.pdf
3. UNOCHA, November 2013, ‘Humanitarian Bulletin, Syrian Arab Republic: Issue 37 4-‐18 November 2013’, pp 11. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Syria%20Humanitarian%20Bulletin%20No%2037.pdf
4. UNHCR, November 2013, ‘The Future of Syria: Refugee Children in Crisis’, pp 9. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Future-‐of-‐Syria-‐UNHCR-‐v13.pdf
5. Oxford Research Group, November 2013, ‘Stolen Futures: The Hidden Toll of Child Casualties in Syria’, pp 1. Available: http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/sites/default/files/Stolen%20Futures.pdf
6. Save the Children, 2013, ‘Attacks on Education: The impact of conflict and grave violations on children’s futures’, pp 7. Available: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/Attacks_on_Education_0.pdf
7. UNICEF, November 2013, ‘Syria Crisis: Bi-‐weekly humanitarian situation report: 15-‐28 November 2013’, pp1. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNICEF%20Syria%20Regional%20Crisis%20Humanitarian%20SitRep%20-‐%2028%20NOV%202013.pdf.
8. ICRC, November 2013, ‘Jordan: Cash assistance for Syrian refugees beset by mounting needs’. Available: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/2013/11-‐21-‐jordan-‐syria-‐refugees.htm
9. UNICEF, November 2013, ‘Syria Crisis: Bi-‐weekly humanitarian situation report: 15-‐28 November’, pp 12. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNICEF%20Syria%20Regional%20Crisis%20Humanitarian%20SitRep%20-‐%2028%20NOV%202013.pdf
10. The UN estimates that 4,278,000 children are affected inside Syria, with 1,186,891 children currently outside the country as refugees, totalling almost 5.5 million affected children. Ibid, pp 1.
11. UNOCHA, November 2013, ‘Humanitarian Bulletin, Syrian Arab Republic: Issue 37 4-‐18 November’, pp 1. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Syria%20Humanitarian%20Bulletin%20No%2037.pdf
12. Huffington Post, September 2013, ‘Number of Internally Displaced in Syria Hits 5 Million, UN Says’. Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/02/internally-‐displaced-‐syria_n_3855563.html?ref=topbar
13. UNICEF, November 2013, ‘Syria Crisis: Bi-‐weekly humanitarian situation report, 15-‐28 November’, pp 2. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNICEF%20Syria%20Regional%20Crisis%20Humanitarian%20SitRep%20-‐%2028%20NOV%202013.pdf
14. UNHCR, September 2013, ‘Number of Syrian refugees tops 2 million mark with more on the way’. Available: http://www.unhcr.org/522495669.html 15. Save the Children, November 2013, ‘Syria Crisis Response’, pp1. Available: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/RSYR-‐cf-‐
12_RegionalDashboardExternal31_27Nov13.pdf 16. UNHCR, September 2013, ‘Number of Syrian refugees tops 2 million mark with more on the way’. Available: http://www.unhcr.org/522495669.html 17. UNOCHA, November 2013, ‘Humanitarian Bulletin, Syrian Arab Republic: Issue 37 4-‐18 November’, pp 11. Available:
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Syria%20Humanitarian%20Bulletin%20No%2037.pdf 18. BBC News, September 2013, ‘Syria Crisis: UN says more than 2m have fled’. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-‐middle-‐east-‐23937972 19. UNHCR, November 2013, ‘Zaatari Detailed Indicator Report, 16 November – 22 November’, pp 1. Available:
http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/settlement.php?id=176&country=107®ion=77 20. War Child UK conducted a rapid assessment in Zaatari camp at the beginning of July. These statistics are based on interviews with 41 families, 348 household
members. The average household had 8 people or more in it. 21. BBC News, September 2013, ‘Syria Crisis: UN says more than 2m have fled’. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-‐middle-‐east-‐23937972 22. UNICEF, November 2013, ‘Syria Crisis, Bi-‐weekly humanitarian situation report: 25 October – 14 November 2013’, pp 7. Available:
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNICEF%20Syria%20Regional%20Crisis%20Humanitarian%20SitRep%20%28Syria%2C%20Jordan%2C%20Lebanon%2C%20Iraq%2C%20Turkey%29%20-‐%2014%20NOV%202013.pdf
23. Human Rights Council, June 2013, ‘Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic’, pp 15. Available: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-‐HRC-‐23-‐58_en.pdf
SOURCES AND REFERENCES