Eurasia Press & News
The number of children who have fled war-torn Syria hit one million Friday, while two million kids have been displaced within their homeland’s borders by the conflict, the UN said.
“This one millionth child refugee is not just another number. This is a real child ripped from home, maybe even from a family, facing horrors we can only begin to comprehend,” said the head of UN children’s agency UNICEF, Anthony Lake, said in a statement.
Children make up half of all refugees from more than two years of conflict in Syria, according to United Nations figures.
Most Syrian refugees have found a haven in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, but they are increasingly fleeing to North Africa and Europe.
The UN’s most recent figures show that some 740,000 Syrian refugees are under the age of 11.
“What is at stake is nothing less than the survival and wellbeing of a generation of innocents,” Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees.
