From the capture of Mosul by ISIS to the siege of Kobani, the political and media focus on what used to be called the Syrian civil war has changed. The battlefield has become more complex as the images have become ever more brutal.
Yet one thing has not become more complex: The human suffering on the part of millions of Syrians fleeing their homes in fear of their lives, or stuck in them desperately trying to survive. It is vital that the new focus in the West on military options does not come at the expense of two humanitarian tragedies — one, inside Syria, continuing, and another, in the neighboring countries, in the making.
wInside Syria, fighting between the government of Bashar Assad and opposition forces is intensifying, exacerbating the dire humanitarian conditions already endured by its traumatized population. Violence and insecurity hinder access to half of the 11 million people desperately in need of aid. In June, we called on members of the UN Security Council and key Middle Eastern states to appoint senior diplomats and politicians as humanitarian envoys, focused solely on securing help for those in need. Such top-level commitment is even more urgently necessary today than it was five months ago.
The second, emerging tragedy is the increasing inability of Syria’s neighbors to maintain the levels of hospitality they have extended to those fleeing the conflict over the past three and a half years. Since fighting broke out, the one escape route open to Syria’s terrified civilians has been across its borders and into Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey or Iraq. Together, these states have taken in more than three million Syrian refugees. Their governments have provided assistance to the most vulnerable and to the communities who host them, and have supported the efforts of NGOs to deliver vital services to those affected by the conflict. Their contribution makes them by some measures the biggest humanitarian donors to relief efforts in the region.
But these four countries’ economies, basic services and infrastructure can no longer cope. Syrian refugees now constitute a third of Lebanon’s population. Jordan, one of the most water-starved nations on the planet, hosts more than 600,000 registered refugees, proportionally equivalent to the United States absorbing the population of the UK.
Consequently, the four countries are taking measures to control the flow of refugees, targeting help on the most vulnerable. Thousands of traumatized civilians are now trapped on or near the country’s borders: Fighting prevents their return home, or they have no homes to return to. Five months of heavy rain, snow and sub-zero temperatures lie ahead.
This dangerous scenario is the result of a collective international failure to mobilize sufficient support for those countries whose proximity to Syria fates them to be beacons of hope for those desperate to get out. There are a number of steps that urgently need to be taken. Donors should work with Syria’s neighbors to establish safe border crossing mechanisms for all those wishing to do so, regardless of their age, ethnicity, or political background. UNHCR’s 2014 appeal for Syrian refugees must be supported. Syria’s neighbors should receive the direct financial assistance they urgently require to plug the widening gaps in their basic services, repair their buckling infrastructure and create income-generating opportunities, to the benefit of both refugees and the communities that host them. Even if the conflict in Syria ended tomorrow it would take decades to rebuild the country; longer-term developmental support — allowing Syria’s neighbors to rebuild and fortify their shaken economic and social infrastructure — will therefore be key.
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Transcend Media Service
