Civil War in Syria
In March of 2011, the people of Syria gathered in peaceful protests against the government. The government retaliated, which lead to an ongoing four-and-a-half year civil war against the people of Syria, resulting in 250,000 deaths and over 11 million citizens fleeing their homes.
After the civil war began, rebel brigades began to form to battle the government for control of cities, towns, and the countryside. The brigades caused hundreds of thousands of citizens to take to the streets across the country. By June of 2011, a total of 11 million people had been forced from their homes and 90,000 citizens killed. The number of deaths only increased when the government began dropping bombs on rebel areas, which the UN believes may classify as massacres.
It has been confirmed that both sides have committed unforgivable war crimes such as murder, torture, rape, and enforced disappearances. The government was accused of causing “civilian suffering,” meaning that they blocked the citizens’ access to healthcare, food, and even water. In August of 2013, chemical warfare was utilized by the government. Rockets filled with sarin, which is used as a chemical weapon because of its potency as a nerve agent, were fired at many suburbs in Damascus. It was also found that chlorine was used repeatedly against the rebels. The chlorine would cause swelling in the rebel’s airways, making breathing difficult, and cause skin and eye injuries. What are the effects of chlorine? The chemical warfare was so extreme that the U.S. threatened to intervene if it was not stopped. This led to President Assad, the president of Syria, agreeing to remove and destruct chemical weapons to keep the United States military out of the war, however, there has been recent news that he did not keep this promise, and attacks with chlorine occurred recently in Aleppo, Syria.
All of the warfare has led to over 4.5 million citizens, mostly women and children, fleeing the country since the beginning of the war. Many of these people go to neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Turkey, or Jordan, and 10% travel to different countries in Europe, causing the countries to dispute over sharing the burden of these additional people. Along with those 4.5 million citizens who have left, 6.5 million were displaced inside of Syria, and 1.2 of those were driven out of their homes in just 2015. As of July of 2016, the United States had taken in 6,726 refugees who fled the country.
The war is still raging in Syria, and people are still fleeing to various countries including our own. The problem, however, is that with with the rise of the terrorist group ISIS in the Middle East, countries are hesitant to let in refugees in fear that they will bring harm to their country. However, it is important to remember that these peoples’ homes are being torn apart and all they are asking for is a place where they can feel safe This leaves countries with the tough decision; should refugees be allowed in the countries, or will they bring harm?
