Qatar calls for urgent end to abuses against kids in Syria

QNA/Geneva

Qatar has stressed the importance of taking additional stringent and concrete measures against perpetrators of gross violations of children’s rights and humanity in Syria, through the adoption of more laws that criminalise these violations and the fight against impunity of the perpetrators and bringing them to the International Criminal Justice as soon as possible.

This came in a speech delivered by Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office and other international organisations in Geneva, HE Faisal bin Abdullah al-Henzab, during the side event, organised by Qatar’s delegation in co-operation with the Permanent Mission to the UN including France, Italy, and Belgium and Liechtenstein in co-operation with No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) under the title: “Children of Syria under the microscope”, on the sidelines of the 27th session of the Human Rights Council, currently being held in Geneva from September 8 to 26.

On behalf of Qatar’ delegation, al-Henzab expressed thanks to the participants and speakers, led by  Nora al-Amir, the Vice President of the Syrian National Coalition, for their valuable contributions and participation in the event.

According to the reports issued recently by the UN, warn that the future of over 5mn Syrian children is unclear due to violence and deterioration of health and education services and economic situation in addition to the nature of armed conflict and its methods that creating unprecedented threats to an entire generation of children, threatening by future physical and psychological problems, will not be perceived by the international community until too late, al-Henzab said.

Al-Henzab stressed the need to launch an extensive campaign immediately to end abuses against children which is tending actually to destroy an entire generation.

In this regard, he affirmed Qatar’s full support to the “children and not soldiers” campaign launched by the UN to end and prevent the recruitment of children and to work on the re-reintegrated them into society through programmes dedicated to it before 2016-end.