SBW sparks conflict with graphic images of dead children

Sonny Bill Williams tweeted extremely graphic images of two dead children after returning from Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, demanding to know what they had done to deserve death.

The two images, which thecoconet.tv has chosen not to publish due to their graphic nature, show young children lying on the ground with wounds to their heads, torso and legs.

"What did these children do to deserve this?" SBW tweeted on Tuesday evening.

Williams recently returned from visiting a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon as a Unicef ambassador working to bring awareness to the plight of the children and their families living in the camps.

The All Black star said his time at the temporary settlements at Faida in the Bekaa Valley, made him realise how "ignorant" of the refugee crisis he was.

He continues, "This summer share a thought for the innocent lives lost everyday in war,"

Early mixed reactions to Williams' tweet were followed by a flood of support on Twitter.

TV3 news anchor Mike McRoberts, who travelled to the refugee settlement in Lebanon with Williams was quick to show his support of the tweet.

Unicef NZ executive director Vivien Maidaborn said she understood why Williams shared the photos and that his intentions were good but the charity would not be sharing the photos and asked others to refrain from doing so.

"UNICEF'S mission is to protect the dignity and rights of children - even in death.

"Children have a right under a United Nations convention to how their image is portrayed and it is our joint responsibility to give children this right in death." 

"There is no doubt that the photographs in question are disturbing and powerful images that depict very clearly the pathos and horror of the refugee crisis."

The council said the images bore comparison with the images of the naked nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phoc fleeing a napalm attack in the Vietnam War "and are all the more poignant for the absence of any overt signs of violence".

"Like the Vietnam War images, they have had an effect on the policies of nations across the world."

Williams' tweet has been shared about 2400 times since it was posted on Tuesday evening.