Five years of conflict in Syria has left much of the country in ruins and robbed millions of their childhood.
The conflict has helped trigger a worldwide refugee crisis with over 2.4 million Syrian children living as refugees outside of the country, with a further 306,000 being born as refugees,a UNICEF report that came out on Monday states.
Within Syria a further 200,000 children are currently living under siege as battles continue to wage between various factions, including forces loyal to the Assad regime, Islamic State, and many other rebel groups.
"Twice as many people now live under siege or in hard-to-reach areas compared with 2013. At least two million of those cut off from assistance are children, including more than 200,000 in areas under siege," the report said, adding that UNICEF workers have witnessed children suffering from extreme malnutrition and even death from starvation.
Dr. David Nott, a trauma surgeon who worked in Syria, says the psychological consequences of life in such horrifying surroundings can be just as devastating. "Children living under siege almost have to re-learn what it’s like to be a human being," he says.
Since the conflict began, 3.7 million Syrians have been born, 2.9 million children inside Syria and at least 811,000 in neighbouring countries. At least 400 Syrian children died in 2015 and 500 more were maimed in cases verified by UNICEF. The conflict in Syria has now led to the deaths of over 250,000 people.
The "No Place for Children" report highlights that almost seven million children live in poverty inside of Syria today and that a whole generation is at risk as there is no end to the conflict in sight.
"No place is safe for children in Syria. Violence has become commonplace, reaching family homes, playgrounds, schools, parks, and places of worship," UNICEF said, adding that thousands of school had been destroyed.
UN agencies and NGO partners of the “No Lost Generation Initiative” have appealed for $1.4 billion (£980 million) this year to enable four million children and young people inside Syria and in neighbouring countries to get access to formal and non-formal education opportunities.
"A trend of particular concern is the increase in child recruitment," the report said, saying some of the children recruited to fight were now as young as seven. All parties to the conflict have been kidnapping and trying to lure children into joining the war, offering them gifts and rewards.
"Children are now receiving military training and participating in combat, or taking up life-threatening roles at the battle-front," the report states. Children have also been used to kill and are often being indoctrinated. Islamic State has been particularly eager to release propaganda videos of its child soldiers, which it calls the "Cubs of the Caliphate."
In 2014, the UN verified more than 460 children abducted by parties to the conflict, and children who had been released reported being beaten, indoctrinated, and forced to commit violence. Over 100 children were killed or injured while fighting in the war in 2015, according to UNICEF.
And boys are not the only ones being recruited. Huda, who now lives in a refugee camp in Jordan, was just 14 years old when she found herself in her first battle facing armed men, with a weapon she barely knew how to use. "I was scared," she said. "The commander gave me a gun and said get ready for the battle."
"For the 3.7 million Syrian children born since the conflict began, five years is literally a lifetime. A lifetime in which they have known little but violence, deprivation, and uncertainty," Anthony Lake, the UNICEF Executive Director said.
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