UN official warns of ‘lost generation’ of Syrian children

More than 40 per cent of Syrian refugee children in Turkey are missing out on education, despite a sharp increase in enrolment rates, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday.

According to UNICEF, nearly half a million Syrian refugee children are currently enrolled in schools across Turkey. However, over 40 per cent of children of school-going age – or 380,000 child refugees – are still missing out on an education, despite a more than 50 per cent increase in enrolment since last June.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth, speaking after a visit to southern Turkey, said: “Unless more resources are provided, there is still a very real risk of a ‘lost generation’ of Syrian children, deprived of the skills they will one day need to rebuild their country.”

Forsyth also praised Turkey for its “huge achievement” in housing millions of refuges. Ankara says there are 2.7 million Syrian refugees in the country, of which 1.2 million are children, according to UNICEF Turkey is hosting the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world.