In Ireland children have rights. And they’re basic. Like the right to live; the right to an education; the right to protection and the right to freedom; they can express their opinion, join an association.
For most children in Ireland, these rights are upheld. If they’re not then there are moves that can be made – by parent or by state – to make it ‘right’ again. But, say Ireland was to suddenly find itself in the midst of a war situation, what would happen to our children’s rights then? They’d become worthless, just an ideal and not worth the paper they’re written on. Like in Syria, where millions of children’s lives are being destroyed daily. All their rights have become wrongs. Here’s how:
Their right to live – becomes a desperate need to survive as they flee their homes to escape the violence and death. Those who don’t die in warfare will inevitably succumb to starvation, lack of shelter and serious injury because of limited humanitarian aid and medical services.
Their right to an education – becomes a life lived in ignorance. Many Syrian children have been forced to quit school, move away – their future now uncertain and undetermined. Instead of striving to contribute positively to the world by becoming a doctor, nurse, teacher or artist – they will become soldiers, not of peace, but of war, out of revenge or out of necessity. Syria once had one of the world’s highest literacy rates — many children who ordinarily would be third or fourth graders by now have rarely if ever been inside a classroom. “Attacks on schools and education infrastructure — sometimes deliberate — are one key reason many children do not attend classes,” said a spokesperson for UNICEF.
Their right to protection – becomes an impossiblity for Syrian children as many have been left orphaned, or left vulnerable because their parents are either dead or have been maimed. Forced to flee with little or no guardianship, they are prime targets for opportunists like sex traffickers and paedophiles.
Their right to freedom – becomes a right to nothing. No say, no choice, young lives get cruelly dragged into a war that is not of their making. All they can do is follow the crowd and trust in whatever adult is closest to them at that time, even if it’s only for five minutes. They need to know there are people out there who give a damn about them whether they’re our children or not so that in turn they might give a damn about themselves and others in the future.
Where there is war there are no rights. Just wrongs. And we’re part of that wrong if we think that what’s happening to Syria’s children couldn’t happen to ours. Because it could. ‘We’re just lucky we don’t live in a war torn country,’ says a spokesperson for UNICEF Ireland drumming home that the only real difference between our children and Syrian children to be merely geographical. But living in a country like Ireland that’s not actively at war does not guarantee our safety or that of our children’s in the future. Wars move, spread out – and unless we make some effort to put a stop to the fear and hatred, none of us – least of all our children – will ever be truly safe.
Social media affords us the opportunity to connect with the world from the comfort of our own home. Every child deserves a home, whether they’re our children or someone else’s – so please donate, sign a petition, lobby your local politician, talk about what’s going on, whatever it takes to keep the issue alive – because it might just keep a child alive.
Main image: Reuters
