OVER THREE MILLION CHILDREN IN SYRIA SUFFER FROM CRISIS, UN SAYS

Teheran, 11 Jumadil Akhir 1434/20 April 2013 (MINA) – The United Nations says over three million children in Syria suffer from direful consequences of the crisis that has gripped the country for over two years, according to Press TV report monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

“This emergency is a children’s crisis,” Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui told the UN Security Council on Wednesday (17/4).

Attacks on hospitals and schools risk children’s lives and jeopardize their access to education and medical assistance, Zerrougui added.

Zerrougui further called on the UN to work out an effective solution to end impunity for perpetrators of “grave violence” against children in Syria.

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On April 9, the international children charity organization, Save the Children, warned that children in Syria had been under direct harm.

Last month, the US-based organization also said that kids in Syria were being shot at, tortured, and raped.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos has said that 6.8 million people out of a 20.8 million population need humanitarian assistance in Syria.

In addition, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres says the number of Syrian refugees could exceed 3.5 million by the end of 2013.

Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil that began in Syria in March 2011.

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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, Thursday (18/4) that it was high time to stop the crimes of war in Syria, Anadolu Agency report.

Speaking on private CNN Turk TV channel, Davutoglu stressed that the number of Scud missiles fired from Damascus to Aleppo was 205 and that it was time to act on the crimes of war in Syria.

“Every time a Scud missile gets fired, a neighborhood in Syria disappears. And this is a ‘crime of war’,” Davutoglu noted.

“It is now time to act on such crimes of war. Those committing the war crimes must pay the price. No one can argue that such Scud missile attacks are not crimes of war.” (T/P09/E1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).