New Delhi : Regretting the fact the children of refugee families are forced to work, UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming said the UN body does not have enough funds to put these children in school.
Participating in a discussion on refugee crisis at the Women in the World Summit here, photo journalist Lynsey Addario recounted her work with Syrian refugees and told how she saw children working early in the morning on fields picking cucumber and peaches.
“I would fall asleep while clicking pictures, I got so exhausted… How do those children work for such long hours,” said the photo journalist.
She recounted one of the experiences where she saw children fall off peach trees as they were exhausted.
Fleming said it was a pity that the children had to work when they were supposed to go to school. “We are not receiving funds it needs to put these kids in school,” she said.
According to an estimate, there are nearly 60 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world today and half of them are children.
The session was anchored by actress Cate Blanchette.