INNOCENCE LOST IN HORRORS OF MOSUL
Save the Children reports horrific psychological scars caused by war
ISIL may be down to a few hundred fighters in the Iraqi city of Mosul, but the scars of living under the militants’ rule still mark the children who have seen the battle to defeat them.
The city’s youngsters have been left so psychologically damaged that they are unable to play or smile, international charity Save the Children said.
In a study released yesterday, it described the heavy toll the war has taken on the mental health of Mosul’s children.
It said those who escaped the exhibit signs of toxic stress, a condition that leaves the mind stuck in a fight-or-flight mode that can cause lifelong damage.
“What was striking was how introverted and withdrawn children have become,” said Dr Marcia Brophy, Save the Children’s senior mental health adviser in the Middle East. “They rarely even smiled. It was as though they had lost the ability to be children.”
For the study – the largest of its kind to date – researchers interviewed 65 children between the ages of 10 and 15 who had recently fled Mosul to the Hamam Al Alil refugee camp, about 30 kilometres south of the city.
Ninety per cent of those interviewed lost a loved one in the conflict to death, abduction or separation during escape.
The horrors the children have witnessed dominate their lives. They keep them awake at night and give them “waking nightmares” during the day.
Almost all have difficulty understanding instructions, displaying robotic behaviour.
“Since I came to the camp I don’t feel safe, because I don’t believe we are here,” said one teenaged girl. “And I don’t think we are far from ISIL.”
Some have watched as their loved ones were killed.
“My cousin was offered a cig- arette by ISIL and when he accepted, they gave it to him and then killed him by gunshot on the back,” said a boy aged between 10 and 12.
ISIL captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city at the time, in a lightning assault in June 2014. Weeks later, the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, formally declared the establishment of a “caliphate” from the ancient Al Nuri mosque, which ISIL blew up as Iraqi forces closed in.
For three years, ISIL ruled the city with an iron fist, publicly killing for minor infractions while enforcing their extreme interpretation of Islam.
Some children were forcibly recruited into ISIL’s ranks, even occasionally appearing as killers in propaganda videos.
And while ISIL’s reign over the city has ended in all but a few streets, the battle to push the extremists from the city has been long and bloody.
“Children escaping Mosul have gone through horror piled upon horror,” said Ana Loscin, Save the Children’s director in Iraq. “They have been starved and abused inside the city. Explosives have been dropped in narrow streets by all sides with little regard to their impact.
“But even if they made it out alive they’ve been scarred and broken. And right now that’s what Mosul’s future looks like.”
While psychological support for children and adults who have survived ISIL rule is crucial to avert long-term health problems, Save the Children says there is not enough aid. Only 2 per cent of the funds for essential programmes this year has been raised so far.
“To help children recover and rebuild after their ordeals, psychological support must be considered a priority,” Ms Loscin said.
Dr Brophy said: “These children aren’t going to heal in weeks or even months. They’ll need support for years to come.”