Im waiting for media reports to connect a couple of obvious dots in the Middle East -- the recent agreement with Iran and the Syrian civil war. To me this looks like low-hanging fruit, but in the world of global economics and politics the lives and fortunes of individual populations are inconsequential to local and regional hegemony. A handful of leaders are aware of these larger realities, which is why the Iran agreement is so important. (I wish they had come up with some catchy name -- The Yadda-yadda Accords or the Ooh-la-la Summit Agreement -- but I havent picked up anything so far. Too much competition with holidays and extreme weather, I suppose.) The Syrian tragedy has not been mentioned in media reports about the six-month noratorium agreement with Iran. As far as I know Syria was not mentioned either in official discussions or the language of the final agreement. But make no mistake about it -- this conflict is very much a part of the subtext. Unlike the *potential* threat of a Persian atomic bomb, Syrian blood is flowing NOW and lives continues to be sacrificed because the tensions of the Middle East are present in real time. Refugees who have escaped have a hard life, but they have, in fact, escaped. Many within Syria continue to kill and be killed, and many are literally starving -- eating grass or leaves or selling organs in return for cash. Women and girls are resorting to prostitution. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==> As families fall apart, tens of thousands of Syrian children are living without their fathers. In a female-headed household, a male child is likely to be sent out to work. Child labour is illegal in Lebanon and Jordan, but children are commonly taking menial work for low pay. Their meagre wages are sometimes the familys only source of income. A previous report by the UN childrens agency, Unicef, published in March, estimated that one in 10 Syrian refugee children in the region is engaged in child labour. In Jordan Valley, the agency found that 1,700 out of 3,500 school-aged children (nearly 49%) were working.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 11:25:19 +0000
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