More than 1,170 Syrian children, many under the age of 10, have crossed borders into neighboring Jordan without parents or adult relatives.A senior official from the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, said the Syrian children have taken refuge in the Zaatari refugee camp, situated over 80 kilometers (49 miles) northeast of the Jordanian capital city of Amman, and in host communities around the country, English-language newspaperThe Jordan Timesreported.
Michele Servadei, the deputy representative for UNICEF Jordan, further noted that UNICEF together with international humanitarian organizations takes care of Syrian minors in Jordan.
He said UNICEFs mandate is to identify, register and provide interim care to separated and unaccompanied children.
Unaccompanied children - also called unaccompanied minors - are children who have been separated from both parents or from their previous legal or customary primary caregiver, but not necessarily from other relatives. These may include children accompanied by other adult family members but who are not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so, Servadei pointed out.
He added, Unaccompanied children are among the most vulnerable, especially in host communities, where the risk of abuse and exploitation is much higher.
Servadei said UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are currently monitoring and analyzing the causes of separation, noting that these reasons include the death or sickness of their caregiver or family violence.
Some children are also separated from their families at the border, he noted.
In some cases, children travel alone to reunite with their family members who have already left Syria and are in Jordan, while in other cases, families have returned to Syria without their child because they believe it is safer to leave them in Jordan, Servadei said.
Of the 4,150 Syrian child refugees identified and registered by the UN childrens agency, at least 1,698 ones are in Lebanons east region of Bekaa Valley, where many are swept up and used for agricultural child labor.
The UN agency estimates that there are 800 newly-arrived unaccompanied and separated Syrian children in the north of Iraq.
By Press TV
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