Iraqi Children Emergency: A Campaign to Document the Kidnapping and/or Selling of Iraqi Children
By Wafaa’ Al-Natheema, Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies
The trauma of Iraqi children and extreme suffering have not been only due to the killing and bombs, but also due to the deteriorating medical and health services, displacement, imprisonment and interruption of education. The ongoing displacement and/or the absence of one or both parents from children’s life have made them vulnerable and put them in high risk. Orphans from poor families have been facing the most devastating condition than any segment of Iraqi society. They live in grave danger facing diseases, kidnapping and trafficking.
Our Institute is launching a campaign to document eyewitnesses from inside and outside Iraq who observed the kidnapping and/or the selling of Iraqi children or those who are able to locate kidnapped and sold children in their new environment. We are working to create a network of communities within Iraq and neighboring countries (Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran and Kuwait) to monitor, provide alerts, exchange information and report to NGOs, families, the media and authorities to prevent children from being sold and especially from leaving Iraq. We need all the help we can muster to ensure the success of this mission.