Drones: No Safe Place for Children

March 23, 2013 - Since 2004, the U.S. has launched 415 drone strikes in Pakistan , Yemen, and Somalia— outside of declared warzones—killing more than 3,000 people. Beyond these direct casualties, the U.S.drone program is terrorising entire civilian populations,nearly half of which are children . Drones hover over communities twenty‐four hours a day, creating a constant, physical reminder for the people below that they could be killed at any moment. Nobody knows who is being targeted, so nobody knows how to make themselves s
afe. As a result,parents are afraid to send their children to school, teachers a
re afraid to teach,community members are afraid to gather for any function—whether it be for local governance or a funeral. Trips to the market are fraught with anger because you never know whether the drone’s next target is nearby. All of this, in turn, causes the local economy to grind to a halt. For children living in these communities, there is no aspect of day-to‐day life that is not impacted by the constant presence of the drones and the threat that they bring ...

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