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Update: Tuesday, February 18 - 10:30AM CET It has emerged that little Marwan, while separated from his family for a period of time , was not alone in the desert. According to a journalist on the Open Newsroom G+ page who spoke to a UNHCR staff on the scene, the child was “20 steps” ahead of his family, in a column of refugees. More details at the end of the article
Hala Gorani, a reporter and anchor for CNN International, tweeted on Monday a picture telling a tragic story: UN staff in Jordan found a four-year-old boy named Marwan crossing the desert alone after being separated from his family while fleeing Syria.
UN staff found 4 year-old Marwan crossing desert alone after being separated from family fleeing #Syria. pic.twitter.com/YdCt7gZrcN
— Hala Gorani (@HalaGorani) 17 Février 2014
Gorani later added another tweet saying that, according to the UNHCR, Marwan was found in the Jordanian desert, with his possession in a small plastic bag.
Marwan was later reunited with his family.
Syria’s nearly three-year-old conflict has killed more than 130,000 people and forced six million to leave their homes, Reuters reports. The UNHCR says 2,486,000 refugees have fled Syria and relocated in the Middle East region.
The picture was originally posted by Andrew Harper, the UNHCR’s Representative in Jordan on Sunday, as his team were receiving Syria refugees crossing to eastern Jordan.
Here 4 year old Marwan, who was temporarily separated from his family, is assisted by UNHCR staff to cross #Jordan pic.twitter.com/w4s2mrNnMY
— Andrew Harper (@And_Harper) 16 Février 2014
Update
It has emerged that little Marwan, while separated from his family for a period of time, was not alone in the desert. In a discussion thread on the Open Newsroom G+ page, an open journalistic community, Guardian journalist Shiv Malik, who spoke to a UNHCR press officer on the scene, said the child was “20 steps” ahead of his family, in a column of refugees.
Read the Storify of the discussion here:
[View the story "Marwan: lost in desert at four years old ... but for how long?" on Storify]