A UN report released Thursday urged the international community to address the growing problem of Syrian refugee child laborers, many of whom are exploited to support their families, AFP reported.
The report, produced by UN children’s agency UNICEF and Save the Children, said minors both within Syria and in refugee communities in neighboring countries face devastating poverty.
Dr. Roger Hearn, Save the Children’s regional director, said children are often forced work for survival as war and displacement make their families increasingly desperate.
In many cases, vulnerable children are exploited in sex trade, child trafficking, and organized begging.
In Syria, where the UN children’s agency estimates four out of five people live in poverty, children contribute to their families’ income in over three quarters of surveyed homes.
Conditions are often worse outside Syria, where many child refugees have no choice but to work for survival. In Jordan, nearly half of refugee children are the sole or joint breadwinners for their households.
In parts of Lebanon, which according to the UNHCR hosts over one million registered Syrian refugees, children as young as six years old are involved in the labor market.
While UNICEF regional director Dr. Peter Salma stressed in the report that child labor dangerously “hinders children’s growth and development,” the implications for the issue extend far into the future, as many fear a “lost generation” of Syrians.
