D . TOPIC . No Lost Generation : Education & Opportunities Decrease Radicalization Risk for Refugee Youth ( 2480 )
Observation .
As the Syrian Civil War continues into its fifth year since 2011 , the youth who compose over half of all Syrian refugees are in danger of becoming a lost generation . The risk for such youth to radicalize increases when opportunities for education , employment , and addressing injustice are limited , according to studies by the RAND Corporation and Mercy Corps . The United Nations International Children ’ s Emergency Fund ( UNICEF ) is heading the No Lost Generation Initiative to fill this gap and encourage the resilience of Syrian youth who long to rebuild their country
Discussion .
Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War , over half of Syria ’ s population has been displaced – 6.6 million internally and some 4.5 million in the neighboring countries of Turkey , Lebanon , Jordan , Iraq , and Egypt . The UN estimates that over half of Syrian refugees ( some 2.4 million refugee children ), are less than 18 years old . A 2012 study from the Migration Policy Centre about Syrian refugees in the Duhok Domiz camp in the Kurdistan region of Iraq provides a glimpse into why refugee youth fled towards the beginning of the Syrian civil war : “ The respondents [ 93 % of which were youth ] gave varying reasons for their flight from Syria . Reasons included the fear of physical violence ( 25 %); the fear of being used as a human shield ( 25 %); the fear of rape ( 24 %); the fear of forced military service ( 22 %); and other reasons in different proportions ,” ( p . 9 ). Youth – especially young Syrian Kurdish men – were under increasing pressure from both the Syrian government and the Free Syrian Army to bear arms in the fighting or to be used as human shields . These youth fled precisely because they did not want to participate in the violence and militancy .
Prior to the start of the war , Syrian youth were invested in building their future . Over 70 % of Syrian youth attended secondary schools , and Syria had a 95 % literacy rate . However , according to the 2015 RAND study “ Education of Syrian Refugee Children : Managing the Crisis in Turkey , Lebanon , and Jordan ,” as of November 2015 , at least 700,000 Syrian refugee children were not attending formal education in Jordan , Turkey , and Lebanon . Reasons for this are myriad and include : school and transportation expenses , security concerns , documentation , shortages on school space , and language / curriculum challenges . Child marriages have become more common for Syrian refugee girls , as lack of educational and employment opportunities lead families to marry off their girls to ease the burden . Child labor is also rising , as youth are forced to work to support their families , often in informal and dangerous jobs .
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