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A little girl from Syria and her father, who showed her how to laugh off exploding bombs, finally arrived safely in Turkey.
Three year old Salwa and her parents crossed into Turkey on at the end of February, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency The UK’s Guardian newspaper said the family had found a new home in Antakya.
Earlier, a poignant video went viral of Salwa and her dad, named Abdullah Mohammed, laughing heartily while the sounds of bombs exploded nearby their home in Idlib, Syria. Mohammed was praised for protecting his daughter against the trauma of the bombs. The video also showed how horrible it is to be a little one in the midst of war.
Through a relentless bombing campaign on Idlib this Syrian father has been teaching his daughter to laugh when she hears explosions. pic.twitter.com/wRojclnuKO
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) February 21, 2020
Mohammed asks his daughter, “Is that a plane or a bomb?”
“A shell,” she says, “and when it falls, we will laugh!”
Salwa remembered how children used to set of fireworks during Eid al-Fitr. Mohammed used this memory to make a game out of being bombed for her.
Idlib is located in northwestern Syria and is at the center of fighting between Turkish-backed rebels and Syrian forces backed by Russia.
According to UN estimates, approximately one million people have been forced to flee the area. Many others, however, have been trapped.
I am happy to report that 3-year-old Salwa and her parents have made it safely out of Idlib to Turkey. The family made headlines for a game where dad Abdullah got Salwa to laugh at falling bombs to protect her from trauma. For the first time ever, she can laugh at normal things. pic.twitter.com/jTET7z7rRj
— Bethan McKernan (@mck_beth) March 3, 2020
The Guardian’s Bethan McKernan wrote, “For the first time ever, she can laugh at normal things,” after she saw Salwa dancing around her new home in a pink princess dress.
The war in Syria has waged for nine years. Let’s hope they find an end to it soon.
