UNICEF urges child-free protest sites

BANGKOK, February 24 (TNA) - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for “child-free” protest sites in Thailand, after three children were killed in political violence in the country last weekend. In its official statement released on Monday, the UNICEF urged all parties concerned, including the government, pro- and anti-government protest leaders and parents to keep children away from all protest areas, after three children were killed and two others seriously injured near protest sites in Bangkok and Trat Province in the Thai East last weekend. A four-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister were killed in a grenade attack near the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest site at Ratchaprasong Intersection in Bangkok, while another five-year-old girl was killed after gunmen opened fire on a PDRC protest rally in Trat. According to the Thai Ministry of Public Health, both fresh violent incidents also left two children seriously wounded, including a five-year-old girl who is in a coma at a hospital in the eastern Rayong Province and a 9-year-old boy who is in intensive care unit at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok. Bijaya Rajbhandari, the UNICEF representative for Thailand, condemned such violence in the UN organization statement, calling for the government, pro-and anti-government protest leaders and parents to ensure safety of children by keeping them away from all protest sites. Bijaya emphasized that all protest sites should be made child-free areas and urged authorities to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.(TNA)