CHILDREN OF

       MOSUL

                                                     Many children have fled Mosul (Picture: Getty)

  

‘If you see a toy on the floor in the street you must not touch as it
 could be a bomb.’

For Nour, aged 10, this is her reality after living under so-called
 Islamic State for three years in Mosul.

She is one of hundreds of thousands of children whose lives have
 been disrupted by conflict in the Iraqi city, unable to go to school
and forced to witness atrocities since the ‘caliphate’ was declared
 in 2014.

War Child is a charity working on the ground, about the
young people caught up in the fighting as government forces drive
out the terror group.

                            Nabil, aged 10

                                                                  (Picture: Warchild)

Nabil fled Mosul three months ago after living under Isis for two years.
He returned to his house recently to see it again, and found writing on
 the wall saying ‘YOU ARE DAESH.’

‘Before Daesh the situation was good,’ he said. ‘Afterwards everything
went bad.

‘I left school when they started teaching about weapons so I started
 work in a restaurant.

‘It was very difficult being at home the whole time. I loved school,

I was very good in maths and loved to read maths text books.

‘Later the restaurant was attacked by a suicide bomb and destroyed.

‘Daesh took us as human shield from the East to West side of Mosul.’

‘We went to the police and they said it was OK to go back. But
we are scared it is not safe.

‘Now I will go and try to do my homework and learn something.’

                                  Nour, aged 10

                                                                 (Picture: Warchild)

‘Daesh destroyed us. [In the Daesh school] I stayed for two days and they
taught us about bullets and guns.

‘They said to the girls in particular that if you do anything wrong in the
school we will kill you and they told the boys if you say anything bad
about IS we will slaughter you and your parents. I was so upset by this
so I stopped going.

Then I just stayed in my home for more than a year. Sometimes we

slept with no food.

In the beginning, they gave us some food, but now we have no food or

money.

We need food.

My sister was shot inside our tent. The bullet came through the tent and

hit her liver.

‘The Qatar Red Crescent help her.

‘She is still very upset if she hears the loud noises. My mother has
struggled to get an air cooler for her.

‘When the electricity cuts she is in pain.

‘I want to be a teacher.’

The war in Mosul

After Isis invaded the city and declared their ‘caliphate’ in 2014, 
many people ran away immediately and have been living in 
refugee camps for a long time.

But others were unwilling or unable to leave their homes, even 
as Isis stayed in control of the city for three years.

When the offensive to retake Mosul began six months ago, 
a new wave of civilians fled the city with still more leaving in 
the past few weeks.

As they lived under Isis rule, many of the original refugees 
are distrustful of them as they believe they could be supporters – 
even though most detest and are victims of the group who
 they call ‘Daesh’.

                         Ibrahim, aged 15

                                                                    (Picture: Warchild)

‘Life before Daesh was good. When they arrived we lost the electricity,’
 he said.

‘They made us tell on each other.

‘If anyone is late for prayer they would lash them many times. We just
stayed inside the house.

They preached about liberty and freedom then they took our freedom

from us.

We all have the memories in our heads, we always think about what

they did to us. I don’t think we will get over what we have been through

unless our lives get better.

We want to return to our homes, we need water. But we have no money.

‘We have almost sold all of our assets, even our blankets and sheets.

‘I made juice and sell it, as it's Ramadan people buy the drinks in
 the evening but I worry what will happen after Ramadan is finished.

‘I make at most about $2 a day. I also go to school in the mornings.

‘I have to support my whole family but I need support so I can
 learn also.’

Many children live in camps now their homes have been destroyed

 (Picture: Warchild)

Rocco Blume, from War Child, visited Hamam Al-Alil camp two weeks ago
to assess the situation and see how the charity can support children, for
example by providing education and counselling.

He described the horror of living under the oppressive rule of Isis.

‘Children witnessed atrocities, have seen loved ones killed,
 have missed
 two or three years of schooling, had their lives totally disrupted.’

‘They will be accused of supporting Isis. Some have been forced to
commit atrocities.’

Isis has sought infamy by forcing children, some as young as toddlers,
to appear in propaganda videos executing and torturing prisoners.

                                                Civilians fleeing Mosul this week (Picture AP)

‘All the children who Isis have used are victims,’ Rocco said. ‘It’s a form
of terrible abuse.’

‘The damage that could do to anyone, let alone a child, when they are
 learning to trust and form an image of the world around them, is immense.

He said the long term mental effect and the stigma attached to these children
is huge, ‘even if they have been forced or cajoled into being in these videos’.

‘It’s happened in a minority of cases but no-one is untouched living
under Isis.’

                                           Children pictured in an Isis video (Picture: YouTube)

Many tried to pass under the radar by no longer going to school, after the
curriculum changed so they were brainwashed into learning about weapons
and the group’s hardline and intolerant ideology.

‘The children I spoke to, some said they had seen police officers being
 executed,’ Rocco said. ‘They had all seen incredibly upsetting things.

‘They saw Isis fighters die in the streets.

‘The bombing campaign has also been incredibly distressing, leaving their
homes destroyed and having to flee under bombardment.’

He said the refugee camp itself was also unfamiliar and upsetting for children
 used to living in cities who now find themselves with just a basic shelter
over their heads in 43C temperatures.

A man carries two children in his arms as Iraqi government forces continue

 their offensive (Picture: Getty)

‘They want to go back to Mosul,’ Rocco said. ‘It’s desperately important that
schools are rebuilt and that these people who have experienced this terrible
 trauma are helped to deal with it.’

‘Families separating has also had a big impact. Some people are still stuck
 in West Mosul.

‘It’s very difficult for some people to find out what’s happened to their
 parents or children.’

It is not only Isis that has caused the trauma.

The bombardment by government forces has seen homes destroyed,
with the reality of fighting a war a horrific thing to live through for any side.

Members of Iraqi forces walk past ruined Grand al-Nuri Mosque 

(Picture: Reuters/Erik De Castro)

For Rocco, the fact the UK joined the Iraq war in 2003 means we have a
 duty to help the children affected by the ongoing problems in the country.

‘Britain bears a heavy responsibility to support and protect children in Iraq
after serving in the conflict,’ he said.

But although what many children have been through is so traumatic,
he said they will be able to recover and live fulfilling lives if they are
given the help they need, with education and counselling to help
 them find a way forward.