Children inside a classroom at Za’atri refugee camp, host to tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by conflict, near Mafraq, Jordan. (Photo: UN /Mark Garten)A new report is warning Syria’s children are perhaps the greatest victims of their country’s civil war. The group Save the Children says more than two million Syrian children are facing disease, malnutrition, severe trauma and early marriage from two years of unrelenting conflict. Studies of Syrian children in refugee camps found high incidences of physical abuse and of experiencing the death of a family member. At the United Nations, Patrick McCormick of the children’s agency UNICEF warned a generation of Syrian youths are at risk.

Patrick McCormick: "Millions of children inside Syria and across the region are witnessing their past and their future disappear amidst the rubble and destruction of this prolonged conflict. We must rescue them from the brink, for their sake and for the sake of Syria and future generations."

According to Save the Children, increasing numbers of children are being recruited by armed groups on both sides. Child recruits have been used as porters, guards, informers, fighters and even human shields.  

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