Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak to the motion moved by the member for Fowler in relation to the Safe Schools Declaration. The declaration is committed to making schools safe from military action by encouraging member states to express broad political support for the protection and continuation of education in armed conflict and for protecting the civilian nature of schools.

I note that as of 20 January 2017 some 57 countries have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. Sadly, Australia is not one of those countries. It is disappointing, given that we are providing assistance already to foreign military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and we settle refugees from a large number of war zones, including Somalia, Sudan and, more recently, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

Our world at the moment is a very dangerous and unsafe place, especially for children living in armed conflict zones, and for children, that fear for their life is extended to the classroom. Ordinarily a place of sanctuary, safety and learning, schools in war zones are being targeted for attack and being occupied by military forces. I speak on this motion because it is important to protect schools in order to secure a child's right to an education and to give children hope and the best possible chance of a future. These sentiments are passionately held by many of my constituents who have come to Australia as refugees.

Last Friday I attended the 2016 VCE and VCAL awards presentations at Sydenham catholic college and I had the honour of presenting the award of dux for the school year to Saad Al-Kassab, a refugee from Syria. Saad was only 14 when the civil war broke out in Syria, and he said:

During the Syrian Civil War, I—like most of the students in my city—was not able to attend school. I missed nearly two years of study. My school became an army base and snipers occupied the top of it, stealing lives and causing fear and not allowing even cats to pass through. Soon after, my school playground became a centre for shelling and bombing. They turned the school from a place that gives hope and life to a place that causes death and destruction. It was really heartbreaking for me to know that I will no longer be able to go to school, that not only my past is being destroyed but my future is being stolen as well.

According to UNICEF, the continuing war in Syria has seen thousands of schools damaged, destroyed, militarised and used as detention centres or shelters for displaced persons. Some 1.7 million Syrian children are out of school in their country due to the conflict. Aid organisations and human rights groups have pointed out that the dwindling school attendance rates, particularly in rebel-held areas, have pushed children into the labour market, fuelled displacement and, in the case of girls, led to disturbing increases in child marriage. But it is not just in Syria where children and schools are subjected to military attacks and violence.

The 2014 Israel-Gaza war took a heavy toll on Gaza's children. More than 500 were killed; 3,374 were injured, nearly one-third of whom suffered permanent disability; more than 1,500 were orphaned; and hundreds of thousands were left in trauma. During the 51-day conflict, 258 schools and kindergartens were damaged, including 26 schools that are beyond repair. Two years later Gaza's children and their families continue to suffer. The damage to school buildings has placed additional strain on the education system, which was already operating on double shifts before the war, with half the students attending in the morning and the other half attending in the afternoon because of a shortage of classroom space.

In Iraq, one in every five children is at serious risk of death, injury, sexual violence and recruitment into armed groups, with many children being snatched from school. Peter Hawkins, a representative from UNICEF, says:

The conflict is exposing children in Iraq to daily horrors. Unless addressed immediately, young minds, haunted by fear and hatred could slip into a spiral of despair, darkness and a sense of helplessness. Learning, playing and aspiring to a more prosperous future will be a thing of the past.

Children in war-torn countries are growing up associating schools with death and destruction instead of safety, nurturing and education. The impact armed conflict has on a country and its opportunity to rebuild after the atrocities of war is significant.

I call on the Australian government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and to attend the March conference in Buenos Aires in order to work with governments internationally to discourage the military use of schools and promote security and practices that better protect schools. It is in the interests of children around the world that they have the right to safety and the right to an education.

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