The Hallifordian - 2016-2017

40 Inter-House Public Speaking Competition: The Syrian Civil War Conflict Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. To- day I am here to discuss one of the most destructive ongoing conflicts in our world today. I am talking about the Syrian war. I would like to start by saying more than 11 million people have been forced to leave their homes due to the Syrian war. Almost 600,000 are still trapped in besieged areas. And millions need food, water and medical care. For almost six years, people in Syria have been living in near-constant fear. Thousands have been killed or maimed. Shelling, airstrikes and on- going violence are taking a devastating toll on those who survive. Two out of every three children, in Syria, have lost a loved one, had their house bombed or been injured. Many of them have grown up know- ing nothing but war. Let us pause and give these statistics some thought. Let us reflect on what it must be like to live in a world where you never know from day to day whether you will actually survive. When I think of the cares and problems we students complain about and then put this into context with people our age in Syria it’s shameful to think we have anything to moan about at all! Each of us enjoys at least three meals a day, good quality education, a comfortable home and the kind of peace that Syrian teenagers have probably never known! A teacher in the besieged town of Madaya told Save the Children charity: “The children are psychologically crushed and tired... When we do ac- tivities like singing with them, they don’t respond at all. They don’t laugh.” But when you think about the children in Syria, I guess there isn’t a lot to laugh about is there? The Syrian conflict is convenient for us. It is convenient to forget isn’t it? Syria is a faraway place where none of us are ever likely to go to. Its people speak a different language to us. Culturally, they are quite different. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, we can simply put aside their problems when we read about them or see them on television. We have the luxury of being able to put these people right out of our minds at the flick of a switch. As a result of the crisis the innocent Syrian public have been caught up in this terrible war. They Children have been badly affected by the Syrian Conflict.