ANKARA: More than 40 percent of Syrian child refugees are missing out on education in Turkey raising the risk of a “lost generation,” UN children’s fund UNICEF said on Thursday.
Nearly 400,000 children of school-going age are not in education at present, the agency said, despite an increase of over 50 percent in enrolment since June. Currently close to half a million Syrian children in Turkey are attending school.
The agency’s deputy executive director Justin Forsyth praised Turkey for this “huge achievement” but said more needed to be done, in a statement on the agency’s website.
“Unless more resources are provided, there is still a very real risk of a ‘lost generation’ of Syrian children, deprived of the skills they will one day need to rebuild their country,” Forsyth added. He was speaking after a visit to southern Turkey where hundreds of thousands of Syrians live in cities and inside camps.
Ankara says there are 2.7 million Syrian refugees in the country, of whom 1.2 million are children.
According to UNICEF which says it is the country hosting the highest number in the world.
Nearly 180,000 babies were born to Syrian refugees in Turkey between April 2011 and September 2016, the Health Ministry said, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency on Thursday.
Earlier this month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said skilled Syrian and Iraqi refugees currently working in the black economy would be granted citizenship if they pass security tests.
There are believed to be 300,000 Iraqi refugees inside Turkey.
The conflict in Syria has killed more than 310,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
Across the region, a total of 2.7 million Syrian children are not in school with the majority affected inside the war-ravaged country.
400,000 Syrian child refugees in Turkey not in school: UN
400,000 Syrian child refugees in Turkey not in school: UN
UN chief condemns Israeli law blocking electricity, water for UNRWA facilities
- The agency provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned on Wednesday a move by Israel to ban electricity or water to facilities owned by the UN Palestinian refugee agency, a UN spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the move would “further impede” the agency’s ability to operate and carry out activities.
“The Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations remains applicable to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), its property and assets, and to its officials and other personnel. Property used by UNRWA is inviolable,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said while adding that UNRWA is an “integral” part of the world body.
UNRWA Commissioner General Phillipe Lazzarini also condemned the move, saying that it was part of an ongoing “ systematic campaign to discredit UNRWA and thereby obstruct” the role it plays in providing assistance to Palestinian refugees.
In 2024, the Israeli parliament passed a law banning the agency from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with the agency.
As a result, UNRWA operates in East Jerusalem, which the UN considers territory occupied by Israel. Israel considers all Jerusalem to be part of the country.
The agency provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It has long had tense relations with Israel but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for UNRWA to be disbanded, with its responsibilities transferred to other UN agencies.
The prohibition of basic utilities to the UN agency came as Israel also suspended of dozens of international non-governmental organizations working in Gaza due to a failure to meet new rules to vet those groups.
In a joint statement, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom said on Tuesday such a move would have a severe impact on the access of essential services, including health care. They said one in three health care facilities in Gaza would close if international NGO operations stopped.
