[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.57]this is the Education Report.
[00:06.08]The United Nations is warning that Syrian children
[00:10.34]are suffering as a result of the country's
[00:13.23]nearly three year-long conflict.
[00:16.40]It says many children have developed emotional problems,
[00:20.55]are separated from their parents, and are not in school.
[00:25.96]The United Nations says more than 1 million Syrian children
[00:31.21]are registered with its refugee agency, the UNHCR.
[00:37.52]Most of them now live in Lebanon and Jordan.
[00:41.52]These boys and girls may have escaped from the fighting,
[00:45.91]but they continue to suffer the effects of war.
[00:50.26]In a new report, the U.N. agency says
[00:54.96]75 percent of the 1,100,000 children it has registered
[01:02.78]are Under the age of 12.
[01:05.33]The agency is urging international donors
[01:09.18]to increase financial support to refugee families.
[01:13.83]It says the money could in turn help displaced children.
[01:19.63]Brian Hansford is a spokesman for the UNHCR.
[01:24.94]"It illustrates the immense suffering
[01:27.38]— we are talking here of psychological distress,
[01:29.80]withdrawal, anger, loneliness, fractured families
[01:33.40]and widespread use of child refugees as labor," said Hansford.
[01:36.35]The U.N. report noted efforts
[01:39.16]to keep Syrian refugee children in school,
[01:43.03]but as of September,
[01:44.48]it said more than 100,000 of those in Jordan
[01:48.53]were not attending classes.
[01:51.46]And it said twice that number could be out of school
[01:55.15]in Lebanon by the end of the year.
[01:57.96]Disabled children are said to be having an even harder time.
[02:03.36]Many children, especially boys, are out of school
[02:07.92]because their families need them for work.
[02:11.08]Brian Hansford says the report found
[02:14.58]that 10 percent of Syrian refugee children
[02:18.43]in the area are working for a living,
[02:21.90]many work long hours in dangerous conditions.
[02:26.71]"One child interviewed, he was burned by hot oil in a restaurant,
[02:30.87]another cut his hand while fixing a car mirror,
[02:34.52]and a third was beaten by the son of his boss," Hansford said.
[02:37.11]Refugee babies are also at risk, often lacking necessary documents.
[02:43.26]That is because babies born in Syria are not registered
[02:48.41]if their families fled the country,
[02:50.97]or if they were born as refugees in Lebanon or Jordan.
[02:55.83]Mr Hansford said, the lack of birth certificate
[02:59.94]can create problems for these children later in life.
[03:03.85]"A birth certificate is a vital document
[03:05.80]to protect against risks such as statelessness.
[03:08.00]Without a birth certificate,
[03:09.50]people can have difficulties later enrolling in schools,
[03:11.80]or getting health care and other services," Hansford said.
[03:13.85]The report also found that many Syrian children
[03:17.96]are growing up without one or both parents.
[03:22.31]More than 70,000 Syrian refugee families live without fathers
[03:28.97]and nearly 4,000 refugee children are living without
[03:34.28]or are separated from both parents.
[03:38.18]The U.N. operates centers for these children in refugee camps,
[03:43.28]the centers provide social services
[03:45.93]while workers try to reunite the youngsters with relatives.
[03:51.10]And that's the Education Report From VOA Learning English,
[03:55.87]I'm Milagros Ardin.