The Syrian conflict has been going on for more than five years and the figures reveal the balance of horror. There are 11.5 million displaced, of which half are children, and the number of small dead already exceeds 10 thousand. One in three Syrian children was born in a country at war and they wake up in a nightmare, because each day can be the last.
To draw attention to this situation, and taking advantage of the worldwide impact that the Pokémon Go game has had, the Syrian Free Army, the main rebel group before the Bashar al Assad regime, has launched an impressive campaign on Twitter in which Syrian children ask to be rescued through the popular game.
"If you don't care about Syrian children, here are many Pokémon"
#PokemonInSyria # PokemonGO # PrayForSyria pic.twitter.com/OFgBLNzKUh
- إعلام قوى الثورة (@RFS_mediaoffice) July 25, 2016
The montage made by an activist includes a series of snapshots where children appear with drawings of the characters of the Pokémon Go game. Some carry posters with messages like "I am in Kafranbel, in Idled, come to save me", “There are many Pokémons in Syria, come and save me” or "I am from Kafr Nabuda, save me."
Under hashtags like #PokemonInSyria #PrayForSyria is a call for help to the world of children who suffer and live stories that are not made for them, and yet they live them.
If you don't care about Syrian #children, there are many #Pokemons suffering in #Syria! #PokemonInSyria #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/ZZ31cxl8eZ
- إعلام قوى الثورة (@RFS_mediaoffice) July 25, 2016
But what is happening? The world is revolutionized by a game where "little monsters" are hunted through augmented reality, but does not react in the same way against a war that is ending with "the worst humanitarian crisis of this generation", as defined by the high commissioner of the UN refugee agency, Antonio Guterres.
Syrian children need may the eyes of the world also look at them, call attention to the terrible situation they are experiencing, at least even through Pikachu, Bulbasaur or Squirtle.
