Children With Disabilities Caught In Middle Of Iraq Conflict
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express http://www.InclusionDaily.com
March 25, 2003

BAGHDAD, IRAQ--While U.S. and Allied forces bomb government buildings and
other installations in the Iraqi capital, hundreds of children with
disabilities are facing the war from inside several nearby institutions, the
Associated Press reported Tuesday.

International relief organizations are working to deliver food from local
reserves and from nearby Jordan to the facilities which house 900 children
with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other disabilities. In the past
few days, Iraqi UNICEF workers have managed to deliver tinned meat, wheat,
rice, milk, and high-protein biscuits to the six institutions, four of which
are in central Baghdad, the other two of which are in Karbala to the south.

When the bombing started last week, some of the children were sent to stay
with family members until the end of the conflict. Most of those who remain
are either orphans or children who had been abandoned by their parents.

Geoff Keele, a U.N. Children's Fund spokesman, told the AP that two UNICEF
staff members visited the institutions over the weekend.

"The children could hear the explosions from their rooms," said Baghdad aid
worker Hatim George, of the nightly and now daily bombing raids.

None of the facilities had been damaged, nor had the children been directly
injured. George explained he was worried, however, about the psychological
harm the children are suffering.

"Some of the children appear to have been traumatized by the sounds of
bombing going on outside," said George.
"You can see fear in their faces."

Institutional staff members, who are staying at the homes 24 hours a day,
told George they are worried that they will not be able to maintain adequate
child-care standards much longer if the raids continue.
---
Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express / Inclusion Weekly Review
Disability Rights Email News Service
[log in to unmask]
http://www.InclusionDaily.com

A service of
Inonit Publishing
2002 S. Inland Empire Way #10
Spokane, Washington 99224-4227 USA
Phone: 509-624-6063
Fax: 509-472-3220
Toll free in USA: 888-551-8280