The popular 7-year-old Syrian child Bana al-Abed, who tweeted about her struggle to survive in the Syrian conflict in eastern Aleppo, has appealed through an open letter to the United States President Donald Trump to "do something for the children of Syria."
Twitter account of 7-year-old Syrian girl who tweeted about Aleppo ordeal vanishes
Bana gained thousands of followers on Twitter as she tweeted about her ordeal in the war-ravaged Aleppo. Her Twitter account which was managed by her mother Fatemah, drew attention in September and asked the world to help her and others like her in Aleppo.
The girl also met the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan just before Christmas in December after her family was safely evacuated from the violence-hit region. Bana has now settled in her new home in Turkey. However, she has an important message to convey to the new US President. The 7-year-old wrote an open letter, which was shared with BBC by her mother, and pleaded Trump to help Syrian children like her.
According to BBC reports, Bana had written the letter on the day of Trump's inauguration.
Dear Donald Trump,
My name is Bana Alabed and I am a seven-years-old Syrian girl from Aleppo.
I lived in Syria my whole life before I left from besieged East Aleppo on December last year. I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war. But right now, I am having a peace in my new home of Turkey. In Aleppo, I was in school, but soon it was destroyed because of the bombing.
Some of my friends died. I am very sad about them and wish they were with me because we would play together by right now. I couldn't play in Aleppo, it was the city of death. Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn't yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.
However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria. They are suffering because of adult people. I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.
If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend. I am looking forward to what you will do for the children of Syria.
Although Trump has not cleared his position on Syria, he has definitely shown a soft corner for Russia and has praised the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who supports the Bashar al-Assad-led Syrian government's fight against the rebels in Aleppo.
The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer in a recent press briefing had stated that Trump would work with any country that shares our interest in defeating Isis, including "Russia or anyone else."
Reports state that more than 300,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict and out of these at least 150,000 are children. Around 2,000 children died in 2016 alone, according to the reports of Syrian Network For Human Rights.
