Londoner pleads for humanitarian rescue of 10-year-old Syrian niece

Injured: ten-year-old Ghina Ahmad Wadi
Amnesty International
Hannah Al-Othman12 August 2016

The London-based aunt of an injured Syrian girl is pleading for authorities to allow the 10-year-old to leave her besieged home town to find safety.

Ghina Ahmad Wadi was shot in the leg by a sniper at the Abdel Majed checkpoint when she was on her way to buy medicine for her mother on August 2.

She was shot in her left thigh, causing a complex bone fracture and severing a nerve.

Her eight-year-old sister who was with her was also injured, Amnesty International said.

Her aunt Fadah Jassan, who lives in London, and Amnesty International are calling for Russia, the US and the United Nations to arrange the humanitarian evacuation as her home town of Madaya has been besieged by Syrian government forces since July 2015.

Ms Jassan, who last visited Syria seven years ago and used to travel there every summer before the conflict, said "it's breaking my heart to think of little Ghina suffering like this."

In a statement, she added: "Children should have no part in this terrible war and I just want powerful countries and the UN to encourage the Syrian government to allow Ghina out of Madaya and into a properly-equipped hospital.

"If the UK government can help my niece, then I'd beg them to do so. I know Ghina's just one among many thousands of children in Syria who're going through things they shouldn't have to, but she can be helped relatively easily and we need to do all we can to make that happen."

Calls by Ghina's family for her to be evacuated to a hospital in Damascus or in Lebanon have been rejected.

Kristyan Benedict, of Amnesty International, said: "With Ghina's desperately worried aunt here in the UK, we'd like the UK Government to step in to offer its immediate assistance.

"We need to get Ghina out of Madaya and into a well-provided hospital - the UK can and should explore every option to see that this happens."

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