Pray for children displaced in home countries, charity says

Published on Wednesday to coincide with World Refugee Day, World Vision’s new report, On the Road to Somewhere, reveals that of the 28 million children who were forced to flee their homes due to conflict and disasters in 2016, more than 16 million were displaced in their own countries.

Erica Hall, World Vision’s technical policy lead for child protection, told Premier why there isn’t as much focus on internally displaced children.

“They’re less visible. It’s so much easier to see and to think about the children who are turning up on the shores of Europe.

“Whereas children who are in the Democratic Republic of Congo for example – they’ve had cycles of displacement for their entire lives.”

The Christian charity is calling on the governments of the UK and other wealthy countries to provide more funding for the vulnerable group.

At least 3,270 grave violations against children including recruitment as child soldiers, sexual violence and destruction of schools were recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017 alone – a 245 per cent increase since 2015.

In war-torn South Sudan where seven million people are internally displaced as a result of conflict, 60 per cent are children.

Highlighting the specific prayers internally displaced children need, Hall explained: “Pray that they’re not forgotten and pray that we can…