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Shocking testimony
collected from refugees in camps outside Syria has revealed that children have
been killed, maimed, and tortured in the country's brutal civil war. They've
also witnessed the deaths of parents, siblings, other children, and torture
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Today we’re releasing
Untold Atrocities, a collection of first-hand accounts of the conflict from
children and parents receiving help from Save the Children after fleeing
Syria.
The accounts contain
graphic details of how children have been caught up in Syria's war - witnessing
massacres and in some cases, experiencing torture.
Some of the harrowing
testimony is captured in the slideshow below:
Our teams are working
to help children come to terms with the devastating psychological impact of
their experiences, providing specialist support to children showing signs of
distress, including self-harm, nightmares and bedwetting.
We're also calling for
the UN to step up its documentation of all violations of children’s rights in
Syria and that it should have more resources to do this, so that crimes against
children are not committed with impunity.
Specialist support
needed
Our chief executive
Justin Forsyth, who has just returned from Jordan where he met children who have
suffered horrific experiences, said: “No child should ever see the horrors
being described on a daily basis to our staff on the ground -- stories of
torture, murder and terror.
"They need
specialist emotional support to come to terms with these shocking experiences,
and their stories need to be heard and documented so those responsible for
these appalling crimes against children can be held to account."
Today we launch a
campaign to ensure the crimes against Syria's children are counted: please sign our petition to the UN
Secretary-General.
We've
also started an appeal for money to fund our work with Syrian refugee children:
you can donate here.
