The death of a child is a tragic event, regardless of the
circumstances. So when news broke out that a 5-year-old Moroccan boy had fallen
into a dry well last Tuesday, millions of people tuned in to follow the heroic
efforts to save him. Hour by hour and day by day his saga became top news all
over the world. People prayed and expressed sympathy for Rayan Oram who lay
injured and trapped in a narrow tunnel that made it next to impossible for
rescue workers to reach him.
اضافة اعلان
On live TV and on social media platforms people followed
with anxiety and hope news of the slow salvaging operation to reach him. There
was unity and solidarity with the stricken family from all over. And when
rescuers finally retrieved the boy on the fifth day of his terrible ordeal, the
joy was overwhelming. But it was short lived. Minutes later, and as people
cheered and celebrated, the Moroccan royal court announced the sad news: Rayan
had succumbed to his injuries. The little boy was dead. And immediately, world
leaders and ordinary citizens from all over the world offered their
condolences. Rayan had united people and offered a rare moment of what humanity
meant and should be.
But his short life and tragic death should act as a reminder
that thousands of children see their lives cut short in our part of the world.
Rayan’s death was accidental, but it should remind us that
in a politically volatile region, children die mostly for other reasons. They
die in wars as collateral damage when cities, towns and camps are struck from
the air and when fighters engage each other in civilian areas. They die from
severe weather as they huddle in makeshift camps in icy deserts. They die when
terrorists kidnap them to force them to fight as child soldiers. They are killed
because they belong to the wrong religion, sect or race. They die with their
parents as they attempt the hazardous cross of the seas seeking refuge away
from their war-torn countries. They die of starvation, malnutrition and
neglect.
Last March, UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, said Syria’s
10-year-long civil war has resulted in the death or wounding of some 12,000
children; millions were left out of school. The figures could be much higher as
the raging war continues isolating many areas where observers cannot reach.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 25,000 Syrian
children have died since 2011.
Non-state actors, like Daesh, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and
pro-Iran factions in Iraq are also responsible for the death of hundreds of children,
either directly or indirectly. Last week, when US Special Forces raided a house
in Syria’s Idlib province to hunt down Daesh leader Amir Muhammad Sa’id
Abdal-Rahman Al-Mawla, he reportedly blew himself up killing women and six
children.
In Iraq, not a week goes by without civilians getting killed
in terrorist attacks or by IEDs (improvised explosive devices), including
children who are often caught in crossfire.
In war-torn Yemen, UNICEF reported last year that more than
10,000 children were killed or maimed since the escalation of the conflict in
March 2015. In February of last year, four UN agencies said that at least
400,000 Yemeni children under five could die of starvation, malnutrition or
pandemic within a year.
In Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, it is the weakening of
central governments or civil wars that make life for millions of children
dangerous. International agencies can hardly keep count or maintain aid relief.
Today the same dire fate is facing the people of Afghanistan, especially the
more vulnerable children who could die of hunger this bitter winter. Even in
once thriving Lebanon, children are facing the specter of malnutrition because
their families cannot afford to buy food and needed medicines.
The situation of the Palestinians, who are in the eyes of
the world a nation under occupation, is not any better. In the besieged Gaza
Strip, 67 Palestinian children died in the 11-day Israeli bombardment last May.
It is believed that at least 22,000 Palestinian orphans are living in Gaza. An
2018 UNRWA study found that while the infant mortality rate was actually
decreasing in many parts of the world, it has not declined for the last decade
in Gaza; it now stands at 22.7 per 1,000 live births.
As for the West Bank, suffice it to say that Palestinian
children face Israeli army snipers, on the one hand, and Jewish settler
violence, on the other. According to Addameer organization, by September of
last year, 200 Palestinian children were
still in detention in Israeli prisons, the majority of them in administrative
detention and not convicted of any offence.
Rayan’s tragic death should be a reminder that in many parts
of the Arab world children are dying prematurely because of politics, civil
wars and sectarian strife. The empathy shown by the world in the past few days
should not wane or dissipate, but should expand to look at the greater picture
because many innocent lives are cut short on almost daily basis.
The writer is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
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