UN Security Council highlights plight of wounded Aleppo boy in Syria meeting
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 23 August 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, UN Security Council highlights plight of wounded Aleppo boy in Syria meeting, 23 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57db9a3ba.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 23, 2016
Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, with bloodied face, sits with his sister inside an ambulance following an air strike in Aleppo.
The plight of a wounded and dazed boy from Aleppo, whose image has shocked the world, became the focal point of discussion in a UN Security Council meeting on Syria on August 22.
A top UN official and council members pleaded for humanitarian pauses in the mostly rebel-held city, which has been under a Syrian government siege for months.
Nearly every council member referenced widely circulated images of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh sitting in an ambulance covered with debris and blood as a symbol of the city's destruction.
Omran and his family were pulled from the rubble last week after a military strike on the rebel-held Qaterji district. His 10-year-old brother, Ali, died from his wounds on August 20.
"Just pause for a moment and imagine this was your child, a child that has known nothing but horrific war," said UN humanitarian affairs chief Stephen O'Brien. "That is the reality of what is at stake this morning...not the politicking and posturing, the power games and defensiveness."
O'Brien warned that Aleppo might turn into "a humanitarian catastrophe" unless all parties agree to a humanitarian pause offered by Russia last week.
Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and TASS
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
