#FindAzam: Social media campaign to find missing refugee boy with fractured jaw

Syrian refugee boy Azam Aldaham, 5, was suffering from a fractured jaw when he was last seen in Belgrade. But before he could receive treatment he disappeared, with a man falsely claiming to be his dad.

(BBC Panorama) Source: BBC

The disappearance of an injured five-year-old Syrian boy with a man falsely claiming to be his father has sparked a Twitter campaign to find him.

The campaign #FindAzam has gained momentum since Azam Aldaham disappeared while waiting in hospital for treatment to a broken jaw.

Warning: the video below contains scenes which may cause distress

Azam, one of the hundreds of thousands of refugees travelling through Europe, was first seen by a team of BBC journalists when he was receiving treatment for a swollen and bruised face in a tent in Belgrade.

He was alone and told the journalists, through an interpreter, that his father was back in Turkey and he was travelling with his uncle.

But then a man appeared in the tent and said “I am his father”.

“His mother stayed behind,” he said.

“We didn’t have the money, so we couldn’t all come together.”

The man took Azam and carried him to an ambulance.

An examination of Azam at the hospital showed he had a fractured jaw, but when the BBC called later to check on the five year old, the doctors said the man and Azam vanished. 

Azam did not receive the treatment he urgently needed.

It is not known how Azam was injured.

#FindAzam

Azam's story and his picture have since been circulating social media in an attempt to track down the boy and the man claiming to be his father.