The ongoing wars and conflicts in Iraq have left a large segment of orphans living in extreme poverty, after they lost the breadwinner, in conjunction with the deteriorating economic situation and high rates of unemployment and poverty in the country.

While many countries celebrate on the sixth of January of each year the International Day of War Orphans, with the aim of reminding the plight of this segment and the need to protect it and preserve its rights, the orphans of Iraq still suffer a great tragedy, which is added to the many tragedies of Iraq.

big numbers

Iraq lacks official numbers based on a real study and details by the relevant institutions, but there are data issued according to a primitive survey, and there are statistics issued by the Ministry of Planning that speak of approximately 700 thousand to one million orphans in the country, according to a member of the Commission for Human Rights in Iraq, Dr. Ali Al-Bayati. .

Al-Bayati saw that the absence of official figures for the number of orphans in Iraq is evidence of a lack of interest in them (Al-Jazeera)

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Bayati notes previous statements by the former head of the Integrity Commission, Musa Faraj, about the presence of 5 million orphans, as well as the data of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which talks about the same number, pointing out that according to the data in Iraq, the number is no less than million orphans.

Al-Bayati attributes the reason for the rise in the number of orphans to the wars, crises, terrorism and disasters that Iraq is witnessing, which have led to the loss of the family’s pillars, namely the father or the mother or both, and then the orphans are the outcome of what happened and what is happening.

Al-Bayati considers the absence of accurate numbers as evidence of the lack of interest in orphans and the failure to give them priority from Iraqi institutions, despite the presence of approximately 22 orphanages in the country affiliated with the Ministry of Labor, but there are no more than 100 orphans, and the rest of the efforts are counted by civil society organizations.

Taqi Abdul Rahim confirmed that orphaned children are the most prominent victims of marginalized wars (Al-Jazeera)

human tragedy

Activist Taqi Abdel Rahim points out that orphaned children are the most prominent victims of wars, and they constitute the marginalized group in society, which suffers from the scourge of poverty and social, economic, psychological and educational destitution.

And it was clear to Al Jazeera Net that the orphans of Iraq have psychological, educational, material, educational and even behavioral needs. Food and clothing are not all that these children need, but to fill the shortfall they have needs correction capabilities because the consequences of what they live will suffer from society later.

The activist warns that some parties use orphans for media outlets and shows for personal purposes to elicit people's sympathy and earn huge sums in their name in exchange for their help, but what they get is less than what is known.

As for the displaced children, activist Taqi says that they are the most vulnerable to marginalization, trading in their suffering, and losing the most beautiful years of their lives inside the camps to no avail. Civil society organizations monitor it and try to archive it in order to find out the real numbers.

The activist expresses her regret to see children searching for a living among the garbage in a scene that is always repeated on the ground and on social media. The most difficult thing is to rob the child of his right to live a normal life and obtain the simple requirements of life, pointing out by saying, "This is a real tragedy that shakes human consciences." .

Some civil society organizations are trying to contain the orphans segment amid the lack of government roles that contain them (communication sites)

without shelter

In turn, the ambassador of the International Federation for the Defense of the Rights of the Child in Iraq, Haidar Al Dahesh, says that Iraq includes only 22 private homes for orphan care, although the proportion of Iraqi orphans may reach 5% of orphans in the world, according to UNICEF statistics.

Al Dahesh adds to Al Jazeera Net that the number of homes and their equipment does not match the number of orphans and homeless people in Iraq, but these homes work according to what is possible and what they have, due to the absence of government support and institutions that claim humanity and build their history in the media only, not "realistic" human beings.

He describes the situation of orphans and the displaced in Iraq as being like a human earthquake, and if we do not find an urgent solution for it, it will become a catastrophe with ominous consequences. Although some institutions and civil society organizations concerned with children have opened orphanages to accommodate the homeless, they still lack monitoring and monitoring from the government and permanent development by those in charge. on the house.

For his part, Al-Bayati demanded that there be priority for sheltering and caring for orphans, given that children are the basic building block of society, and it is not possible to build a society without taking care of them through the Iraqi parliament’s legislation, specifically the Child Rights Law, and also directing state institutions to carry out their duties towards the care and protection of orphans and providing A decent life in terms of housing, livelihood, education, health and other details.

A member of the Commission on Human Rights urges cooperation with civil society institutions and organizations for this role, and the involvement of society in social solidarity and support for children, given that they will represent the next generation, and the future can only be safe and stable by caring for children.

Mahuder: Dangerous and deadly paths await the orphan if he does not receive proper attention (Al-Jazeera)

future repercussions

Psychological and social researcher Dr. Ahmed Mahouder talks about the serious social and psychological repercussions of the orphan, so we find Islamic law urging to sponsor the orphan, in order to provide the necessary healthy psychological and social environment for him, so that he grows healthy and naturally, and is a positive, interactive and productive individual in this society.

Mahuder assures Al Jazeera Net that dangerous and deadly paths await the orphan if he does not receive the appropriate attention, whether on the social, health, economic, educational, and other levels.

He points out that the orphan may suffer from academic reluctance, or evasion of school, and the child may be forced to engage in some work that is not commensurate with his age and not commensurate with the nature of his formation, due to the difficult economic conditions, and we find that these children bear a very great and grave responsibility.

The researcher stressed the need to provide psychological and social support to the orphan and follow it up so that he does not turn towards bad friends and deviate into negative and harmful behaviors such as smoking or even drug abuse, theft, crime, terrorism and others.

Mahuder called on state institutions to provide the appropriate health environment from a psychological, social and economic point of view for these individuals to grow up in a healthy manner that serves the community and thus not be a burden on the state and its institutions.