RIYADH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2020) UNICEF is alarmed by the attacks on education facilities in Idlib as well as an exodus of children forced to leave the area over the escalation in violence, a fund spokesperson told Sputnik.
"We have been able as UNICEF to confirm 10 attacks on education facilities that include schools and kindergartens. These schools have come under attack in one day, 10 of them... And we have been able to confirm those attacks... which is obviously alarming," UNICEF regional communications chief Juliette Touma said.
Touma said it is alarming because it has an impact on the education of nearly 200,800 children in the area.
"And obviously it's a grave violation of children's rights because schools and education facilities are a place of sanctuary and they should not come under attack," she added.
Touma pointed out that the fund is "beyond concerned" about the situation in Idlib in the past days.
"What's happening in Idlib is unprecedented. This is an exodus of children, children who have been forced to flee to safer destinations," she said. "We're talking about half a million kids since the first of December, 2019. In the three months, we have more than half a million kids who were forced to flee."
UNICEF has not seen such an exodus since the Syria crisis began in 2011, Touma added.
"We haven't seen since as many children being displaced in such a short span of time," the official said.
Touma made her comments on the sidelines of the 2nd Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum.
The recent escalation has resulted in a new wave of Syrian refugees seeking safe places in neighboring countries, including Turkey. Last week, Turkey announced it was opening its borders with Europe for refugees to pass.
The escalation in Idlib was triggered when the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (banned in Russia) began a large-scale offensive against Syrian government forces, which returned fire. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Turkish troops, who were not supposed to be there, were caught in the shelling � there were reports of 33 deaths and more than 30 injured. Russia swiftly ensured the Syrian forces stopped the offensive so that the injured and dead could be evacuated to Turkey.
The 2018 Russian-Turkish memorandum retains the status quo on the Turkish military presence in Idlib, but only under condition that all terrorists and radical groups leave the de-escalation zone by October 15, 2018. Moscow and Ankara agreed to take effective measures to ensure stable ceasefire in the zone and to conduct joint patrols.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said in the past that Ankara has not managed to fulfill some of its commitments, including distinguishing terrorists from moderate opposition.
