In the attention given to the refugee influx into Europe from the Middle East what gets eclipsed is the condition of millions of men, women and children who are internally displaced in war-torn areas. We tend to overlook their plight even as they wake up to the sound of guns and sleep through the barrage, never knowing when that whistling sound will cause their death and destruction.
As a whole generation is put to the sword in Yemen and Syria and Iraq, it is mandated that the focus on their living conditions and the fear that engulfs them be given due acknowledgement. The figures are mind boggling in their intensity. Nearly 10 million Yemenis are short on food and water. Going to school is a luxury. Nearly a million are children robbed of the innocence of childhood with little access to food and water. And these are only general estimates.
In Syria, where 100,000 people are stuck in the no-man’s land on the northeastern border awaiting succor from Jordan, it is estimated that nearly 7 million civilians have been displaced inside the country and turned into nomads in search of sustenance. According to the UN it will need over $3 billion to just begin resettling these people if the fighting was to end now. That means every day more children are added to the 6 million currently in distress.
In Iraq, even as sporadic bomb blasts scar the cities and towns nearly 3 million citizens live without proper facilities and basic amenities. Every day the number increases.
This is just the Middle East. Add African trouble spots and Afghanistan and you will see massive numbers progress geometrically.
These millions are truly the forgotten people and while the global media gives attention to those who fled the borders and trekked several thousand miles the inability to enter these countries also contributes to scant coverage of the dire conditions that prevail equally in the urban and rural areas.
It is a sad truth that when the numbers of the afflicted become so large they also become meaningless after a fashion and are reduced from real human beings to mere statistics.
In Syria where the local currency has fallen to 500 pounds for a dollar, there are hardly any commodities available, not even basic stuff like eggs and bread and vegetables. Aleppo is in the throes of a food crisis and the people of these war-torn lands need a helping hand. If there have ever been innocent victims of a protracted war in which they have no part, it is them.
The world has to wake up to their presence. Now.
As a whole generation is put to the sword in Yemen and Syria and Iraq, it is mandated that the focus on their living conditions and the fear that engulfs them be given due acknowledgement. The figures are mind boggling in their intensity. Nearly 10 million Yemenis are short on food and water. Going to school is a luxury. Nearly a million are children robbed of the innocence of childhood with little access to food and water. And these are only general estimates.
In Syria, where 100,000 people are stuck in the no-man’s land on the northeastern border awaiting succor from Jordan, it is estimated that nearly 7 million civilians have been displaced inside the country and turned into nomads in search of sustenance. According to the UN it will need over $3 billion to just begin resettling these people if the fighting was to end now. That means every day more children are added to the 6 million currently in distress.
In Iraq, even as sporadic bomb blasts scar the cities and towns nearly 3 million citizens live without proper facilities and basic amenities. Every day the number increases.
This is just the Middle East. Add African trouble spots and Afghanistan and you will see massive numbers progress geometrically.
These millions are truly the forgotten people and while the global media gives attention to those who fled the borders and trekked several thousand miles the inability to enter these countries also contributes to scant coverage of the dire conditions that prevail equally in the urban and rural areas.
It is a sad truth that when the numbers of the afflicted become so large they also become meaningless after a fashion and are reduced from real human beings to mere statistics.
In Syria where the local currency has fallen to 500 pounds for a dollar, there are hardly any commodities available, not even basic stuff like eggs and bread and vegetables. Aleppo is in the throes of a food crisis and the people of these war-torn lands need a helping hand. If there have ever been innocent victims of a protracted war in which they have no part, it is them.
The world has to wake up to their presence. Now.
