Syria's child earthquake survivors at risk of abuse and exploitation, experts fear

Identifying children, reuniting them with family and offering mental health support are part of aid groups' remit

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  A woman walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. Getty Images

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  A woman mourns a relative during the burial of one of the earthquake victims in Antakya, southeastern Turkey. AP Photo

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  A family photo is seen amid the rubble in Hatay. Getty Images

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  Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their home country following the deadly earthquake. AFP

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  Members of NGOs Deathcare Embalming Team and Turkish Kurt-Ar inspect the bucket of an excavator as they search for bodies in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AP Photo

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  Dust covers a family photo album found in Antakya. AP Photo

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  A man made homeless by the 7.8-magnitude quake carries mattresses distributed by an NGO at a makeshift camp in Afrin, in Syria's Aleppo province. AFP

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  A cracked road near the quake’s epicentre in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AFP

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  A rescuer stands near the site where Aleyna Olmez, 17, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, about 10 days after the quake struck. AFP

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  A rescuer holds a cat after it was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. AFP

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  Quake survivors queue for food amid the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

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  Bedran, a local resident who lost his house in the earthquake, keeps warm in Antakya, Turkey. Reuters

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  A girl carries a box of water bottles next to a damaged mosque in Antakya. Reuters

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  A car lies crushed by parts of a badly damaged building in Samandag, Turkey. AP

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  Residentes remove their belongings from their destroyed house in Samandag. AP

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  Aleyna Olmez, 17, is rescued after being trapped for 10 days in Kahramanmaras. Getty

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  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara. AFP

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  A message scrawled on a car covered in dust from collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP

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  Destruction in Antakya. AP

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  A cracked road leads to a flooded area in Antakya. AP

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  A man looks bewildered at the site of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. EPA

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  Numbered stones near graves of earthquake victims at a cemetery in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA

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  A makeshift camp set up amid the rubble in Antakya, south of Hatay. AFP

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  A woman holds her baby inside a tent in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. AFP

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  Greek and Turkish rescuers are at work to extract bodies of victims from the rubble in Antakya. AFP

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  Samar Hamouda, 44, recalls her experience of the earthquake destroying her home, at Tishreen Hospital in Latakia, Syria. Reuters

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  A damaged house in Jableh, Syria. Reuters

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  Photos of missing children left in hope in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  People collect copies of holy books from the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

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  Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

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  People carry a bodybag as residents wait for their relatives to be pulled out from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

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  Dust covers a family photo album found in the debris of a building in Antakya. AP

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  Portuguese rescue team members try to free the dog named Tarcin from the rubble in Antakya in Hatay. EPA

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  An injured survivor at a makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

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  A makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

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  Britain's King Charles III (C) meets with members of the Turkish diaspora community who have been collecting, packaging and organising the transportation of food, blankets and warm clothing for people who have recently been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, during a visit to the West London Turkish Volunteers, in Hounslow, greater London. AFP

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  People stand by the fire next to the ruins of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Turkey. Reuters

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  Destroyed buildings in Syria's rebel-held village of Atarib, in the north-western Aleppo province. AFP

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  Rescuers carry Fatma, 15, who was pulled out from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

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  A displaced woman receives food inside a stadium in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  People lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp in Iskenderun city in southern Turkey. AP

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  Humanitarian aid provided by Saudi Arabia for survivors of the February 6 earthquake are unloaded at Aleppo Airport in northern Syria. AFP

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  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the World Government Summit in Dubai via video link. Antonie Robertson/The National

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  A man walks between trains being using as shelters in Iskenderun, southern Turkey. AP Photo

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  A woman and children inside a train being used as shelter after the earthquake, in Iskenderun. AP Photo

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  Tents erected in a school yard for Syrians who have lost their homes after the deadly quake, in the rebel-held town of Harem in Syria. Reuters

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  A woman walks by the destroyed Habib-i Neccar mosque in the historic southern city of Antakya in Hatay, Turkey. AFP

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  Rescuers pull out a 12-year-old Syrian girl, Cudi, from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

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  Amar, a Syrian refugee living in Turkey, looks on as search for survivors continues in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

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  Displaced people keep warm by a fire in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  Earthquake survivors receive distributed meals in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

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  A woman stands amid boxes of donated clothes in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

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  A man walks near a damaged building that leans on a neighbouring house in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

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  UN emergency relief co-ordinator Martin Griffiths stands amid quake-damaged buildings in Aleppo, Syria. Reuters

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  Delegates observe a moment of silence for the Turkey–Syria earthquake before the start of the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

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  People keep warm by a fire as the search for survivors continues a week after the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  A child receives food in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  A dog is seen through a glass door in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  Children walk in the street with food boxes in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  A minaret stands as the sun rises over the earthquake-hit city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey

Thousands of children in Syria are at risk of abuse in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that has killed more than 42,000 people and resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of children left unaccompanied, humanitarian groups told The National.

Last Monday, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck in Turkey. The tremors devastated swathes of Syria too.

Children whose families have died may be at risk of trafficking, while even those with families to go home to may face issues in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Amanda Brydon, global head of child protection policy and advocacy at Save the Children, told The National that most vulnerable were those children who had been separated from their families.

"The absence of care and protection by caregivers and families puts them at increased risk of further harmful child protection outcomes, including all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and trafficking," she said.

"What is very difficult to know is the numbers. It can be very difficult to track and to see where the children end up and if they are with the right people. This is why is critical to having strong safeguarding measures and protection for these children."

International groups say they are working in both countries, pushing for proper reunification processes and assisting unaccompanied children.

The slowly reopening border points between the two nations represent an opportunity for aid, Ms Brydon said, but a challenge for preventing trafficking.

"Girls and children with disabilities are often more vulnerable, so keeping families together is what we recommend," she said.

Child protection mechanisms

There is a child protection system within Turkey, but in Syria it depends on where the child is — whether they are in government-held areas or non-governmental regions — and that is where aid organisations play a critical part in filling in the gaps, Ms Brydon said.

In Syria, a protection cluster has been set up as a co-ordination mechanism between the UN, national and international groups to identify separated children.

"This would be apply if you see a child on the street or coming out of a building," Ms Brydon said. "There's contact details for these focal points to connect them to the children and get them to a safe place.

"We are hearing from our partners on the ground that through these informal systems, children who are unaccompanied and not with their caregivers or parents or communities will be in collective centres."

Save the Children has been able to reach more than 45,000 in the past nine days and the group is looking to "scale up child protection services" with its partners across the board.

Unicef says it is working to reunite families and assist unaccompanied children but many more agencies need to be involved to stop children slipping through the net, experts say.

Both Unicef and Save The Children have standard protocols to adhere to in disaster areas to prioritise children's welfare.

Firstly, after a child is rescued or discovered, the group identifies and registers them on a list of those separated from their parents, relatives or caregivers, Ammar Ammar, Unicef’s Mena regional chief of advocacy and communication, told The National.

“Children without parental care are at a heightened risk of violence, abuse and exploitation in emergency situations whether during war, displacement of natural disasters," Mr Ammar said. "The risk of trafficking also soars in emergencies."

He said hospital and border crossing officials should also list all children they treat or rescue.

The next step is to provide the vulnerable children with foster or other community care, supervised by qualified staff. “Adoption should not occur during or immediately after emergencies” Mr Ammar said. "The use of the words 'orphan children' should be used with extreme caution during emergencies as this can lead to long-lasting separation of children."

Next, the child's mental and physical health should be prioritised.

Unicef is working with local groups in north-west Syria to provide psychosocial support, and has sent mobile child protection teams “to support displaced families with psychological first aid support, reaching approximately 6,000 children and caregivers”, Mr Ammar said.

It also aims to create a safe space for social connections between children and trusted adults for play, which can help youngsters develop coping mechanisms, he said.

For those who are returning to their parents, danger still lingers: "Economic hardship, parental stress and lack of social support may expose children to exploitation (child labour, child trafficking, irregular migration, child marriage) in the aftermath of natural disasters," Mr Ammar said.

But social workers, health workers, teachers and communities can help identify those families with the most critical needs and provide individual support to prevent harm, he said.