Syria: A generation of young people are missing from school

Destruction of homes from conflict in Aleppo, Syria, February 2024

Source: CAFOD

As the conflict in Syria enters its 13th year on Friday, 15 March, CAFOD reports on the ongoing humanitarian and refugee crisis, including the thousands of Syrian refugees who have missed out on an education due to the conflict.

Hombeline Duliere, CAFOD Programme Manager, Syria Crisis Response, said: "One young Syrian refugee I recently met told me about the challenges they face living in Lebanon. Baraa is 18 years old and fled the war in Syria when she was just five - so her whole childhood has been spent as a refugee. At one point she didn't attend a single day of school for two years.

"Last year, almost half of school-aged refugee children in Lebanon weren't in school. The conflict in Syria and resulting refugee crisis in the region have left behind a generation of young people whose right to an education and to a childhood have been denied.

"The Syrian people have suffered so much since the beginning of the conflict almost 13 years ago. On top of the conflict, the earthquake, the economic crisis and recurrent disease outbreaks, every winter they have to face freezing temperatures, storms and floods, while the funding available to support them keeps decreasing.

"We should not forget that Syria is the world's worst displacement crisis. There is now a whole generation who have never been able to live in their own country, have never been to school, and thousands who are still too afraid to return to their homes."

LINK

CAFOD: www.cafod.org.uk