The Largest Refugee Crisis Today: Syria
Sadly there are many places in the world that are in crisis today: Nigeria, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan. But the biggest refugee crisis in the world today remains Syria as it has been for the past decade.
More than a quarter of the world’s total refugee population are impacted by Syria’s ongoing conflict. Since 2011, more than 6.6 million Syrians have been forced to flee their country and another 6.7 million have been displaced within the country’s borders. Most Syrian refugees who have fled have ended up in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
This long-standing refugee crisis is the result of a multi-sided civil conflict between the Syrian Arab Republic, led by president Bashar al-Assad, who is supported by domestic and foreign allies, against varying combinations of domestic and foreign forces that oppose the Syrian government–as well as each other.
It is a tumultuous, violent, clash of forces that has taken an incredible toll on the people of Syria.
The unrest started in March 2011, with a violent government crackdown on public demonstrations. Those protests, which were launched throughout the country, had been organized in support of a group of teens who were arrested for anti-government graffiti in the south Syrian town of Daraa. Government security forces quelled the demonstrations with brutal aggression.
From there the conflict escalated and the country descended into a decade-long civil war.
Over the years, Syrian refugees, desperate to escape the violence and chaos of the civil war, have sought asylum in more than 130 countries worldwide – but most have ended up in neighboring countries. Turkey hosts the largest population of Syrian refugees, about 3.6 million.
The vast majority – 92 percent – of refugees who have left Syria live in rural and urban settings. Only about five percent live in actual refugee camps, according to findings from the United Nations.
No matter if they are in camps or elsewhere, more than 70% of Syrian refugees are living in poverty, with limited access to basic services, education, or job opportunities. Few harbor hope of ever returning home.
And that’s not even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A World Bank-United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report estimates that an additional one million Syrian refugees along with over four million residents of host communities in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq were pushed into poverty in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic.
Syrian children are among the most affected by the crisis. They have had their entire lives upended with the loss of loved ones, their possessions and their homes and many have been subjected to violence and indiscriminate acts. Many have grown-up only knowing tragedy, violence and hardship. About 45% of Syrian refugees in the region are less than 18 years old and more than a third of them do not have access to education.
Distrubingly, Syrian refugee children are increasingly becoming victims of child labor. In the host country of Lebanon, the number of Syrian children now toiling in child labor has doubled within the past year.
This humanitarian crisis of epic proportions is deserving of our attention. The Syrian people who are struggling with poverty, lack of education and exploitation, are deserving of our help. Wars are waged, tragedies occur, lives are lost and broken in the unyielding violence that humans can inflict on one another. The one silver lining, the one saving grace, is that we have the means to help each other as best we can. And I believe we have a moral obligation to do so.