Syrian refugees feel robbed of their childhood

The UN children's charity UNICEF says 2.3 million children have been forcibly displaced into neighbouring countries due to the war in Syria.

A displaced Syrian child, who fled the countryside surrounding the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa, carries a jerrycan at a temporary camp in the village of Ain Issa on May 1, 2017.
TRT World and Agencies

A displaced Syrian child, who fled the countryside surrounding the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa, carries a jerrycan at a temporary camp in the village of Ain Issa on May 1, 2017.

Children in Syria continue to suffer on a daily basis while the warring parties continue to meet in Geneva to try to find a political solution to a conflict now in its seventh year.

More children were killed in Syria in 2016 than in any other civil war in history. But the figures only include verified deaths, meaning the real number could be higher says UNICEF.

TRT World 's Zeina Awad has this story of a child maimed by war.

US ambassador to visit refugee camps

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is scheduled to visit Turkey and Jordan from May 19 to 25 to see the plight of Syrian refugees for herself.

It will be the first overseas trip by Haley, a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet.

"What is happening in Syria and its neighbouring countries is a true humanitarian crisis. But those who accuse the US of heartlessness in the face of this crisis are wrong," Haley wrote in the Wall Street Journal newspaper on Wednesday.

"No country has invested more in protecting, housing, feeding and caring for Syrian refugees than the US. We have provided nearly $6.5 billion in emergency assistance for Syria since the start of the crisis," she wrote.

The figures tell a different story.

The US Office of Refugee Resettlement has resettled 14,333 Syrians in the US since 2012, a tiny number compared to most other refugee host countries.

Turkey, for example, currently hosts more than 2.8 million Syrian refugees. It says this has cost the country more than $20 billion so far.

Comparing the percentage of refugees against the total population, Turkey's share is 3.75 percent. The US share, on the other hand, is 0.004 percent.

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