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October 21, 2021 —  The ̽����ѡ welcomes Little Amal, a 3.5m tall puppet of a young Syrian girl, to London today and calls on the UK not to forget  the millions of refugee children like her around the world.

Little Amal is on an epic journey called The Walk, produced by Good Chance Theatre Company in collaboration with Handspring Puppet Company. The Walk sees Amal travel over 8000 kilometers from the Turkey-Syria border to the UK, bringing together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations along the way. The ̽����ѡ is proud to be a humanitarian friend of The Walk and warmly welcomes her to the city. 

During her visit to London, Amal will see the city’s landmarks, including St Paul’s Cathedral, Globe Theatre and the Southbank. She will then head north towards Manchester on the final leg of her journey in search of her mother. 

Little Amal represents millions of refugee children around the world who have had their lives shattered by conflict. Around 2 out of 5 of the 82 million people forcibly displaced around the world are children. Between 2018 and 2020, almost one million children were born into a life of displacement, the prospect of a normal childhood stripped away by war and persecution.

Through programmes across 40 countries, the ̽����ѡ supports refugee children like Amal, who have hopes and dreams of a better life, on a daily basis. These are children like 10-year-old Syrian twins Ali and Aisha, who have fled their homes several times due to conflict.

Ali told us: "When I’m older, I want to work distributing aid to people. In the future, I’d like life to be good and beautiful. I want to work helping people."

The ̽����ѡ is calling on the UK Government to protect refugee children like Amal. Children who are fleeing for their lives and seeking safety in the UK must be treated with fairness, compassion and dignity, with their fundamental rights guaranteed.

Laura Kyrke Smith, ̽����ѡ’s Executive Director for the UK, said:

“The ̽����ѡ is proud to welcome Little Amal to the UK as a humanitarian friend of The Walk. She reminds us of the desperate lengths that children go to escape fear and fighting. Refugee children like her must be treated with kindness and compassion by countries like the UK, and that means concrete action to resettle refugees and provide humanitarian aid in crises around the world.”