'Help us escape this hell': Orphans beg to leave Aleppo in heartbreaking video

As bombs continue to drop on the Syrian city of Aleppo, a US medical organisation has released heartbreaking footage of a group of orphans pleading to the international community to help them leave the besieged city.

The video purportedly shows 47 children in an Aleppo orphanage.

The video purportedly shows 47 children in an Aleppo orphanage. Source: YouTube

The Syrian American Medical Society tweeted the video as the ceasefire between Syrian government forces and rebels broke down on Thursday.

It appeared to show a ten-year-old orphan named Yasmeen Farmouz surrounded by 47 other children in a cramped room somewhere in Aleppo.

"I have been living in the orphanage for the past two years," Yasmeen said, according to the video's subtitles.

"It has been two years since I lost my mummy and daddy because of the jet-fighters' shelling.

"We are 47 children here. They are all my brothers. We are desperate to get out of Aleppo. Desperate for food and drink."
According to , the video was translated to English and posted by an independent Syrian TV channel.

Before a recent wave of evacuations from Aleppo, the United Nations said there were around 100,000 children still in the city's east.

"Children in east Aleppo have been living for months with the bare minimum to survive," UNICEF regional director Geert Cappelaere said.

"Too many children have been prevented from life saving vaccination. We are seeing more cases of malnutrition.
"All children have witnessed violence; too many have been confronted directly with the worst of mankind. Many children have been separated from their families.

"The only answer to all that innocent suffering is simple: stop the war and put the rights and interest of children at the heart of decision making."

The video ends with Yasmeen Farmouz saying he and the rest of the children "love and cherish peace". 

"We are scared of the continuous shelling," he said.

"Please help us escape this hell we are living in. All we want is to live like any other kid in this world."

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Published 15 December 2016 1:45pm
Updated 15 December 2016 3:08pm
Source: SBS News


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