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Bana Alabed: "You must do something for the children of Syria"
7-year-old girl fled Aleppo and is now living in Turkey
She’s the 7-year-old Syrian girl who brought the plight of people living in eastern Aleppo to the world and now she’s asking US President Donald Trump to help save her friends.
In a new video sent to CNN, Bana Alabed – who has been living in Turkey since fleeing Aleppo in December – reads an open letter to Trump urging him to intervene in Syria.
“You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like you and children deserve peace like you,” she says in the video recorded by her mother Fatemah.
“If you promise me you will do something for the children and people of Syria I am already your new friend.”
Sitting at a table with her handwritten letter she pleads with Trump to act for the “millions of Syrian children.”
“They are suffering because of adult people,” she says facing the camera.
Trump is not the first world leader Bana has appealed to for help.
Last month she met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after securing refuge in the country.
Her story caught the attention of Erodgan and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who communicated with Bana and her mother via Twitter.
Bana, together with her mother Fatemah, used Twitter during the siege of eastern Aleppo to share their experiences.
Four months ago, Fatemah decided she wanted the world to hear her children’s voices and see their faces, hoping that maybe she could galvanize global support for those in Aleppo.
Bana – who has two brothers Mohammed, 5, and Noor, 3 – has become an embodiment of the human toll the conflict has had on the children of Syria.
The young girl’s family went into hiding after their home was reduced to rubble on November 27. More than three weeks later, on December 19, Bana tweeted that they had “escaped” from eastern Aleppo.
