"Pokemon Go" has opened up all sorts of digital and social issues since its release July 6. However, some images going around on the internet involving Syrian children are stirring awareness that the mobile gaming app with augmented reality technology perhaps didn't intend to create.
The photos have Syrian children holding up signs with the image of Pikachu, the central character in "Pokemon," which shouldn't look unusual on first glance. However, upon closer look, their signs say that they need rescuing from the war and conflict happening in their country.
Syria Children Pleads To 'Pokemon Go' Players: Rescue Me!
Different cause-oriented groups in Syria have been posting the call for the children on their social media sites, which has been reposted and reshared. One sign, posted by the Revolutionary Forces of Syria (RFS) on their Twitter, feature a little boy who pleads, "There's a lot of #Pokemon in #Syria...Come rescue me!!!" His address and location are detailed in the sign.
#PrayForSyria#RFS
!! pic.twitter.com/vEE86mPKSH—(@RFS_mediaoffice) July 20, 2016
Riding On The 'Pokemon Go' Popularity
The Independent spoke with a representative from the RFS who confirmed that they have decided to use the global popularity of "Pokemon Go" to "highlight the suffering of the Syrian people." Another cause-oriented group, the Syria Solidarity Campaign (SSC) based in the UK, highlighted how the war-torn country and its children have real and more pressing concerns than a gaming app. "If only augmented reality could save lives here is Syria," a spokesperson told the news outlet.
Meanwhile, an artist named Khaled Akil is also riding on the "Pokemon Go" fever to help raise awareness on the plight of Syrian children. He posted a series of photos on his website, which showed the kids of Syria going through life amidst destroyed buildings, war tanks and the remnants of terror. He superimposed images from "Pokemon" next to the children and asks the world why the augmented reality game has more attention than the children's condition.
"I found this unnerving contradiction between the playfulness of the Pokémon world and the danger which Syrians and Syrian children live through every day," Akil told Aljazeera. He also stated that he is not putting up the images to blame anyone, but to put Syria in the spotlight.
According to Huffington Post almost 12,000 have died in the Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011. At least 2.3 million locals have since left the country to become refugees in Europe, North America and Australia.
