THE RIGHT TO PROTECTION AND SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN

Mehmet Murat PAYAM
Assist. Prof. Dr., Social Sciences Vocational College, Department of Property Protection and Security, University of Adıyaman, TURKEY, mpayam@adiyaman.edu.tr

Abstract

Wars, armed conflicts and civil unrests all over the world but especially in the Middle East continue to threaten the lives of people. The affected people from these bed situations are generally the children. As all human beings do have, every child also has “a right to protection” from any hazards regardless of his ethnic, legal or social status. Child protection is generally defined as measures and structures to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence affecting children. There are some key child protection articles in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child such as the right to life, family separation, illicit transfer of children, protection from violence, adoption, refugee children, sexual abuse and exploitation, trafficking etc. But unfortunately, Syrian children are now facing the largest humanitarian and protection crisis in the world. Defined as the “worst humanitarian disaster since the end of the cold war,” the Syrian civil war has to date claimed over 8.000 documented killings of children under eighteen years of age. Over half of the people displaced by the Syria crisis are children and every two minutes, another child from Syria becomes a refugee. Within Syria, the conflict continues to have a severe impact on children’s well-being, with children facing violations of their rights on a daily basis including family separation, no access to education, physical and sexual violence, military recruitment, torture and kidnapping, limited access to basic services, lack of birth certificates and the resulting psychosocial distress. It is strongly proposed that the world must act to save a generation of traumatized, isolated and suffering Syrian refugee children from catastrophe. If we do not move quickly, this generation of innocents will become lasting casualties of an appalling war. For this purpose in this paper, although there are many key child protection issues in Syria, the current situation and problems of Syrian refugee children will be presented in the context of the rights to protection from family separation, recruitment into armed forces and groups, exploitation and gender-based violence, physical harm and psychosocial distress. Finally, some possible recommendations to fight for the rights of the Syrian refugee children will be put forward.

Keywords: Child protection, Syria, refugee children, save children, facts