Syria’s lost generation of children face a bleak future after a decade of war

Nearly 2.5 million children in Syria, plus a further 750,000 Syrian child refugees in neighbouring countries, do not go to school, reports Tom Ambrose

Young children from Aleppo, who will have never known Syria in peaceful times (Unicef/Al-Issa)

A decade of unrelenting destruction and violence has left a generation of Syrian children unable to contemplate a future in the war-torn country.

Ten years ago today, the first protesters marched on the ancient cities of Damascus and Aleppo, signalling the start of a complex civil war that, for many, feels like it will never end.

Among the rubble and the bloodshed lies a “lost generation” of children, some now young adults, many who have never even been to Syria. They continue to pay the heaviest price.