VIDEO: "Open your eyes": Celebrities urge the nation not to forget Syria's children
HOLLYWOOD actors Ewan McGregor and Michael Sheen have voiced their concern at the plight of millions of Syrian children who face their third winter without a home.
The actors have joined forces with musicians, including Spice Girl Emma Bunton, in a short film highlighting the "unprecedented" desperation faced by refugees caught in the bitter civil war.
The video is part of an appeal by UNICEF designed to open the world's eyes during the festive period to the innocent victims of the conflict.
It plays on the double meaning of the phrase 'no place like home' where, accompanied by Christmas music, the celebrities imagine a place they hold dear.
The camera then pans to the children of Syria and their destroyed streets.
UNICEF UK Syria Winter Appeal Film
Speaking to the camera, Michael Sheen - star of Frost/Nixon - said: "Millions of Syrian children have lost their homes. The camps and communities they are living in are no place like home; no place anyone should call home, let alone a child."
According to UNICEF, almost six million children are in urgent need of aid, including more than one million in refugee camps. The organisation say they are living in desperate conditions and face a bitter few months ahead where temperatures will fall as low as -6C.
In the film, UNICEF ambassador and Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor states: "My heart truly goes out to the millions of Syrian children who have lost everything: their families, friends and homes. I worry that the world is starting to shut its eyes to the Syrian crisis.”
The film features McGregor, Sheen and fellow actor Tom Hiddleston from The Avengers. They are joined by musicians Rita Ora, Tinie Tempah and Emma Bunton in the short clip.
The war between forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad and those seeking to oust his Ba'ath regime has been raging since March 2011.
In that time Syrians have lost their homes and fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and North Africa. Many are living in tented settlements in refugee camps.
UNICEF say the scale of the humanitarian response needed for the looming winter is unprecedented.
Should tents and latrines be flooded with rain, there is an increased risk from water borne diseases. UNICEF is distributing winter supplies such as warm clothes, boots and blankets as well as supplying clean water and medicine.
Rita Ora said: "When filming UNICEF’s ‘No Place Like Home’ video I kept thinking of Pristina, my home town in Kosovo. The city has seen its fair share of trouble but thankfully that’s over now.
"But right now, children in Syria are suffering unspeakable violence, often fleeing their homes with nothing but the clothes on their back. Now facing a third winter in cold tents, their lives are threatened by the freezing temperatures."
Experts at the UN have warned of a "lost generation" of children who will grow up damaged because of the war. Many will have lost family members, others are no longer in school or have been forced out to work.
Until 31st January 2014, the UK Government will match pound for pound all public donations made to UNICEF.
Anita Tiessen, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF UK, said: “With the conflict in Syria deep into its third year, children continue to pay the heaviest price. Close to six million Syrian children are in urgent need of aid in what is the largest humanitarian operation in history. Now they face a new threat – winter is here. There is increasing concern for Syrian children caught in the conflict and cut off from supplies. We urgently need to be able to reach every child in Syria. Unless we act now, this generation may be lost forever – with profound long-term consequences for Syria, the region, and beyond".
To help UNICEF buy and distribute winter essentials, text WARM to 70111 to give £3 or visit unicef.org.uk
