ROME, FEBRUARY 28 – There are 449 million children living in conflict zones. In one year more than 8,000 died or were maimed with an average of 22 a day. Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria – some of the main nationalities of origin of the people who lost their lives in the Crotone shipwreck – among the ten worst countries for children to live. This is what emerges from the report “The forgotten ones”, released today in Italy by Save the Children as part of the ‘Children under attack’ campaign, which includes a series of awareness-raising initiatives up to 26 March, the anniversary of the war in Yemen. The organization also launches the video “Save the Survivors”, based on true stories, such as that of Ruba, from Syria, who was only a few days old when her parents were killed by a barrel bomb explosion. Or of Dioura, 12 years old, forced to flee and build a new life for herself after the attack on her village in Niger by armed groups. And of Kibrom, 13, who after traveling on foot for a month with his mother, sheltering in caves, is haunted by memories of the violence he saw during the trip and terrified at the idea of suffering more. According to the report, Afghanistan, together with the occupied Palestinian territories, had the highest number of children killed or maimed by conflict in 2021: 633 were killed and 1,723 were maimed by improvised explosive devices, blasts or explosive remnants of war. In Somalia 793 children were killed or mutilated: for a decade the country has been marked by a dramatically high number of violations against the youngest, with an average of 847 girls and boys killed and mutilated every year. Syria records the second highest rate of recruitment and use of girls and boys, with 1,301 cases reported: the worst figure ever reached in the country and dramatically growing compared to 2016, when they were 961. (ANSA).
(HANDLE)
