Bana al-Abed, the seven-year-old girl who became famous for her tweets documenting life in war-torn eastern Aleppo, has written an open letter to President Donald Trump, asking him to “do something” for children in Syria.
In her letter, she tells of how some of her friends lost their lives in the “city of death.” The family were evacuated from Aleppo in December, and have been relocated to Turkey.
"Can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you," according to the letter sent to NBC News by Bana’s mother, Fatemah.
In the letter, which was written in the days before Trump's inauguration, Bana writes:
“I lived in Syria my whole life before I left from besieged East Aleppo on December last year. I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war.
But right now, I am having a peace in my new home of Turkey. In Aleppo, I was in school but soon it was destroyed because of the bombing.
Some of my friends died.
I am very sad about them and wish they were with me because we would play together by right now. I couldn’t play in Aleppo, it was the city of death.
Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn’t yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.
Related: Aleppo Twitter Sensation Bana al-Abed Evacuated From Syrian City
However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria. They are suffering because of adult people.
I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.
If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend.
I am looking forward to what you will do for the children of Syria.”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 4.8 million people have fled Syria since the war began and 6.3 million people have been internally displaced by the five-year conflict.
President Trump is set to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, according to a report from the Reuters news agency, which cited congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.
