NEWS

Reason and humaneness can stop the shameful “one million child refugees”

 

One million Syrian children are paying the cost of a war which is driving them away from their homeland. It is a shameful record, as noted by the UNHCR and UNICEF.  Children are the most vulnerable victims of the civil war in Syria. It is a severe wound for the world to face homeless children in distress and suffering and divided families. It is a plague that undermines the democratic and humanistic foundations of mankind that has embraced the values of rule of law and humanism. 

 

I appeal that we women who serve in the central and local administration, in the education sector, in the media, in the trade unions and in NGOs bring together our knowledge and effort to support the children, to advance urgent and rational ideas and to undertake political action to resolve the crisis in Syria! 

 

Indifference is not a solution. Indifference can only constitute complicity in the global-scale failure for the world community. The life and smiles of our children whom we beget with love and the pledge to protect have an acute need that we be rational and humane. 

 

In this situation of an escalating multiple crisis I believe it is particularly important that the voice of women and mothers be heard: with our special sensitivity, at high-ranking positions in society and in the government. We can be an engine, a guarantor and a corrective agent of policies and solutions on which the fate of thousands of people depends, including the fate of the exiled Syrian children.

I am confident that Bulgaria, being part of the democratic and free area of the European Union and of the United Nations Organization, is capable to demonstrate by its institutions and public a commitment and responsibility to the sufferers. The national institutions that are in charge of the protection of refugees and are to provide the balance between civil rights and national security and public safety and that are involved in advocacy for children worldwide are demonstrating concern and motivation and work to speed up the processes of cooperation for the benefit of the protection of refugees.

 

We all have the birthright to live a life in freedom and safety.

 

For projects aimed at improving connectivity between Bulgaria and Turkiye must be viewed as a whole, to be successful, and within the context of closer cooperation in Southeastern Europe. This will bolster both economic development and security in the region, whose strategic importance is growing. This was stated by President Iliana Iotova at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who is on a formal visit to Bulgaria.

Albulena Haxhiu expressed her gratitude to President Iotova for Bulgaria’s support on Kosovo’s path toward membership in NATO and the European Union.

Iliana Iotova raised the issue of depopulation in the area along the Bulgarian-Serbian border and highlighted the need for investment to counter the adverse demographic trend.

Iliana Iotova holds a session with the President of our western neighbour Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova