Unsettling Save the Children video asks, 'What if London were Syria?'

Unsettling Save the Children video asks, &#039;What if London were Syria?&#039;

(Image credit: YouTube)

last updated 8 January 2015

Perhaps you've seen these second-a-day videos before? They tend to go viral. They also tend to be heartwarming snapshots of life.

This video, however, is nothing of the sort. In 90 seconds we watch as a British girl's happy and safe world cracks under the onset of war until it is demolished completely. After losing most of her family and coming close to death herself, the girl is shown celebrating another birthday under considerably bleaker circumstances. The video ends with the words: "Just because it isn't happening here, doesn't mean it isn't happening."

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Save the Children UK released the PSA just days ahead of the third anniversary of Syria's uprising-turned-civil war, which has killed more than 140,000 people and made refugees of some 2.5 million more.

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"We hope the video will resonate with members of the public, particularly those who don't know much about the situation in Syria so they can really understand the plight of innocent Syrian children," a Save the Children spokesperson told The Independent.

The video certainly is a striking attempt to make another country's war feel terrifyingly close to home.

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Lauren Hansen produces The Weekâ€™s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.