“It was a happy childhood, but I could feel what was happening around me” – Harry, a WWII child refugee says. It’s happening again. 70 years later, Ahmed from Syria told us: “The sound was so loud. The whole house was shaking. It was really close. People were screaming in the streets and running. So many people were killed.”

Separated by generations, but joined by their stories, Harry and Ahmed told UNICEF about the journeys they made as child refugees fleeing war. Both boys had to leave their Mothers behind and travel to safety over sea facing danger and despair along the way.

Harry says he thought about his family the whole time. Ahmed agrees: “My mother the most.”

WWII survivor Harry from Berlin – now 92 – says he felt anxious as he waited to hear what his fate would be at the end of that journey. Thankfully, he says, he was offered sanctuary in the UK.

Right now, nearly 1 in 200 children in the world is a child refugee. Today there are twice as many child refugees as ten years ago. Globally, 65 million people are displaced. 28 million of those people are children who have been uprooted because of conflict.

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Read more about the making of this video here, or view Child Refugees Fast Facts.