Appeal from Amûde to UNICEF: “Your silence is killing us”

In Amûde, students and teachers protested against the Turkish drone attack on a car near the northern Syrian town. Eleven-year-old Mihemed Eli Kelah was killed in the attack on Wednesday, while Mahir Îsa Kelah (13), village teacher Omer Xanim (40) and Ela Cedû Ehmed (25) were injured.

The spokesperson for the Amûdê school administration, Henaa Xalid, made a statement about the attack in front of the administration building. Students held signs appealing to the child protection agencies UNICEF and UDRC: “Your silence is killing us.” Other signs read “I have the right to live, learn and play safely” and “No to Turkish and Islamic State”.

The statement of the school administration said: “Over the past eleven years, under the umbrella of the autonomous administration and within the framework of the brotherhood of peoples, the territory of Northern and Eastern Syria has become an example of democracy in which multilingualism and diversity are fundamental principles. The institutions established in the fields of politics, economy, culture, health, ecology, justice, security, media and education are working uninterruptedly to serve the people.

Since the beginning of the revolution, thousands of teachers have been working to educate a free generation and to protect the language, history and culture of all communities in the region. Hundreds of thousands of students are taught in the schools.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defend these values with great sacrifice. They provide security and protect the region from terrorism. This was most recently demonstrated by the ISIS attack in Hesekê.

At a time of great crises in the Middle East and Syria, the model of the autonomous administration has triggered a worldwide echo. The opposite side, however, wants to continuously destroy these achievements. The fascist Turkish state increases its cruelty daily and openly professes terror. In order to destroy the security of the region and cause chaos, northeastern Syria is bombed every day and civilians are attacked. Many schools have been hit and children killed in these attacks.

On Wednesday, the village of Buhêra near Amûdê was bombed. The pupil Mihemed Eli Kelah was killed. The pupil Mahir Îsa Kelah and the teacher Omer Xanim suffered injuries. These people were not a threat to Turkey’s security and stability. Nevertheless, Turkish missiles crossed the border and bombed children who still had their exercise books in their hands.

As the administration of the schools of Amûdê, we condemn the attacks of the Turkish state with great disgust. These attacks are contrary to the values of humanity. As peoples of the region, we have a right to a safe life. We appeal to the guarantor powers that are supposedly present here to protect the civilian population and territorial integrity: Take a stand against Turkish aggression. We appeal in particular to the child protection agency UNICEF to prevent these attacks.”