UNICEF/Romenzi“Children in the region continue to suffer the devastating impact of protracted conflicts, communal violence, explosive ordnance and remnants of war, and political and social unrest that permeate several countries”, the UN agency said, including in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Case in point
“This is terrifying and must stop”, UNICEF spelled out. UNICEF is alarmed that children are continuing to pay a heavy price for violence and conflict. Conflict in Blue Nile and West Kordofan States has also left children in Sudan vulnerable and exposed to violence.
Terror in Iran
The latest horrible loss was 10-year-old Kiyan, who was shot dead while in the car with his family. The UN agency reminded that the Convention of the Rights of the Child provides a universal set of standards to be adhered to by all countries – including the principle of non-discrimination; that children’s best interests be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children; and, critically, their right to life. Meanwhile, earlier in the week, a 14-year-old Palestinian girl was killed near Ramallah – bringing the number of children killed in Palestine to 49, since the start of the year. At the same time, UNICEF remains deeply concerned by reports of children being killed, injured, and detained in Iran.
A heavy price
Moreover, in Iraq explosive ordnances from previous conflicts continue to put the children’s lives at risk, killing and injuring 65 this year so far. Just this week, two young girls were found brutally murdered in Al-Hol camp for displaced people, many of whom are family members of former terrorist fighters, in northern Syria – just the latest act of horrific violence there. States party to the Convention are under obligation to protect children in conflict and violence and guarantee their inherent right to life. Migrant children walk outside a detention centre located in Tripoli, Libya. Despite a lack of official data, since late September an estimated 50 children have reportedly lost their lives in public unrest there. And violence in Tripoli earlier in the year took the lives of at least three children in Libya. Before marking the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on Sunday’s World Children’s Day, UNICEF raised the alarm that nearly 580 children have been killed in conflict or violence across the MENA region this year, with many others injured.
“The right of children to be protected from violence should be upheld at all times and by all parties to conflicts”, said UNICEF. “Violence is never a solution, and violence against children is never defensible”.
