Bana's back: Seven-year-old sends letter to UK Prime Minister Theresa May

Bana Alabed, the girl known as the face of Aleppo, has reportedly written a letter with the help of her mother to UK Prime Minister Theresa May. The seven year old who lived in previously besieged eastern Aleppo has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and is verified on the social media platform.

Here’s a copy of the letter, in which Bana beseeches the UK leader to send food and aid to the children of Aleppo, claiming that a little would go a long way:

Letter to @theresa_may. Dear Theresa May, please read my letter to you. Thank you pic.twitter.com/fb1Cc3xOa2

— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) March 5, 2017

Though Bana’s authenticity has come under question, she highlights in many of her tweets one of the most vulnerable populations caught up in the Syrian conflict: children.

Children coming out of Syria are reportedly so traumatized that a new term had to be created for their psychological conditions by a doctor from the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), according to Attn News. The new term is called human devastation syndrome, a condition more extreme than PTSD.

In addition, it is estimated that 300,000 Syrian children are living under siege, according to a joint UN statement in January 2017. Bana, too, was living in besieged Eastern Aleppo, until Syrian government forces retook the city in December of 2016.

Despite the doubts that some have over the little girl’s authenticity, some social media users still choose to support Bana.

This Twitter user vows he will do his best to make sure her letter is seen by British Parliament:

@AlabedBana @theresa_may Dear Bana I am going to ask my Member of Parliament to show your letter to all her friends that run our country

— Father Chris Fuller (@ChrisFuller53) March 5, 2017

Another user tried to comfort Bana after the little girl reportedly learned about President Trump’s new Muslim Ban:

@AlabedBana @Twitter he's a very unkind person, Bana. Most Americans don't even like him because he's such a monster.

— Rose Betit (@RoseBetit) March 6, 2017

Whether Bana’s narrative is real or fake, she has, at the very least, provided a human face for a conflict that seems far off to so many people outside of Syria.

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