The pains inflicted on children throughout the world are increasing at a time
when awareness of such pains is expanding.
Since Al-Aqsa Intifada in the West Bank, more than
2,200 Palestinian children were killed deliberately by Israeli soldiers and
policemen. From the beginning of 2021 until March 31 this year, over 220 children were
killed.
اضافة اعلان
It seems that children are becoming the main victims
of war in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, West Africa, East Africa, and some Asian
countries like India, Myanmar and others.
According to a February 15 report by Save the
Children, 550,000 infants were killed in conflicts since 2013. It is estimated
also that 420 million children are now living in conflict zones, or nearly 20
percent of all the children on the globe. These deaths are not only of children
who died as a result of the conflict directly, rather they include those who
died from “knock-on effects of nearby conflicts such as starvation, outbreak of
diseases, damage to hospitals, or delays to aid deliveries”.
The report goes on to say that if one were to add
only children aged five or less who died from direct military action, the
number of casualties would jump from 420,000 to 870,000.
Leaving the war zones and dwelling on the abuse of
children at work, one comes across shocking revelations as well.
According to a World Vision report titled Child
Labor: Facts, FAQS, and how to help end it”, there 160 million children around
the world between the age of 5 and 17 are engaged in child labor. Of these, 79
million work in hazardous jobs that can be life-threatening. These numbers
could have been much worse if the International Labor Organization (ILO) had not enhanced its monitoring of child
labor.
It is estimated also that 420 million children are now living in conflict zones, or nearly 20 percent of all the children on the globe.
Many children are sexually abused and many are used
for their organs. The thugs and criminals of the world use children in
assassinations, recruit them to fight in wars and exploit them in contraband
activities.
Some families of children, especially in poverty-stricken
areas, maim the children to make them beggars. Examples of child abuse have
even been revealed at holy shrines.
We use terms like “lost generation” in order to draw
attention to the size of atrocities which children endure and which practically
destroy their lives. Glaring examples of such generations are the civil war
generation (1975-1990) in Lebanon, the Syrian Civil War (2011-till now), the
post occupation years of mayhem in Iraq (2003-2020), and the Palestinian
children since 1967, the year of Israel occupation.
The world at large should begin to focus on the
effects of these developments on its future. While we are fully immersed in
thoughts about metaverse, quantum computers, geek smart children, we should
remember the dark picture of the life of fading silhouettes rather than of
avatars.
The writer is an economist, and has held several
ministerial posts, including former deputy prime minister and former chief of
the Royal Court.
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