HESNA MIHEMED

Shehba- Turkey carried out a massacre against the displaced children of Afrin in the Til Rifat town of Shehba on December 2, 2019. Eight children were killed in the Turkish operation while 12 children become disabled. Last year, the Future Syria Party built a monument symbolling the children on the anniversary of the massacre and wrote the names of the children on the monument. We spoke to the children’s families, friends, and teachers on the second anniversary of the massacre.

“I cannot forget Aref”

Seven-year-old Aref was one of the children, who were killed in the attack. “He was a first-grade student. Why did they kill a seven-year-old child? We still remember him. His brothers miss him very much and want to play with him again. He was my heart; don’t allow other mothers to lose their hearts. The massacre took place in front of my house. Whenever I open the door, I remember that day,” Aref’s mother Esmahan Xilo told us.

“Children are innocent”

“Aref was a very hardworking child. He liked his friends. I miss him very much. I wish I could see him again.” Berfin Ebd El Hemid, a friend of Aref, told us. Mihemed Hesen and Emina Qenber lost their friends in the massacre. “Children are innocent. Why are we killed? We wish they were here now to play together again,” they said.

“Killers shouldn’t go unpunished”

Kurdish teacher Siham Koto condemns the silence of the world against the massacre against the children. “Some of them were my students. Every child has the right to receive education in their mother language. But children of Afrin are deprived of this right but the world remains silent against this. Until now, human rights organizations and organizations protecting the rights of children haven’t broken their silence. The killers shouldn’t go unpunished.”