War crime and human rights violations in Syria have concerned all human rights defenders and organizations as about 113,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in this country. Children are the most vulnerable population in all countries. Many Syrian children are suffering as they lose their care takers, are forced to flee their homes, and lose access to education and nutrition every day. Many other children are losing their most basic human right, which is the right to live. According to a report done by Oxford Research Group in London, called Stolen Futures: The Hidden Toll of Child Casualties in Syria, 11,420 children under the age of 17, have been killed by the end of the August 2013. According to this figure about 10% of victims in Syria are minors. The cause of deaths includes sniper fire, explosives, targeted killings, chemical attacks and even torture.
The map was developed by researchers of the report and specifies Syrian cities with high number of children killed.
According to Shia Rights Watch, many of highlighted cities have a large number of Shia Muslim residence; therefore it is very likely that many of those children killed belonged to the Shia faith. Shia Muslims have been reported to be target of many extremist groups that moved to Syria with specific Shia killing mission. It is unfortunate to see extremists targeting children and minors. SRW has repeatedly contacted human rights organization, and even the UN, and asked them to protect Shia, especially innocent children. War crime in Syria is breaking world records of human rights violations and it is heart breaking.
As co-author of the original report, Hamit Dardagan, said “The world needs to take a much closer interest in the effects of the conflict on Syria’s children.”
