Originally published on the CGS blog on March 23, 2015.
This March marks four years since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.
In these four years, over 210,000 human beings have lost their lives. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is aware of over 3.9 million people who have fled Syria for other countries. Most of those refugees have ended up in neighboring countries, putting massive strain on already weak economies. At least 7.6 million people are internally displaced within Syria; that is, they’ve fled their homes but stayed within the nominal borders of Syria. 2.6 million children are out of school, and 5.6 million children are at high risk for violence, poverty, trauma, and exploitation. Children born to Syrian mothers outside of Syria may well end up stateless: with no documentation of their birth or no citizenship in their host countries, they have little or no access to basic services and schooling.
Tuned out yet?
Apparently that’s a problem, too. Most Americans think Syria isn’t as bad as other recent humanitarian crises like the Indian Ocean tsunami or the earthquake in Haiti. However, this is the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II and will affect the global economy for decades to come. And there’s no end in sight. In fact, it’s probably going to get worse.
We all have a stake in what’s going on there through our participation in the global economy and global institutions. Our responsibility as global citizens demands we recognize this problem, call for an end to the crisis, and construct durable institutions that will assure stability for the Syrian refugee population. Each one of them deserves a healthy, fulfilling life, and that’s being taken away from them in startling ways.
How do we help? This list isn’t comprehensive, but a few important ways include:
- Utilize lots of money: Through national governments, through charities and the UN, we have to mobilize the funding for a modern Marshall Plan to help refugees get food, shelter, job skills, and education.
- Establish dedicated resources at the UN: We need to create a specific commission to deal with the Syria crisis, to help coordinate responses across the UNHCR, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, civil society, and take the lead more generally.
- Help Syrians resettle: Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt, simply can’t handle a flood of people rushing across their borders indefinitely. Several of them are closing their borders. We need programs to move as many refugees as possible to countries with space and relatively healthy economies: Europe, North America, parts of the Pacific region. Some of this is already underway but we need more ambitious plans as soon as possible.
- Run a global tolerance campaign: Just as we need to find new homes for these refugees, anti-Muslim sentiment has taken root in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. This crisis is not the refugees’ fault, and they have a right to lead healthy, happy lives.
- Keep refugees engaged: All our efforts will be improved if we give as much agency as possible to the refugees themselves.
- Keep pressuring governments: How we manage this crisis will affect trust in institutions and can show how the United States and other global leaders value lives and livelihoods. Making a difference for the helpless is how you show global leadership.
Go tell your congressperson, your friends, your family, your coworkers, pressure the UN or give money to a cause that’s working to help Syrians. The stakes are too high to wait for someone else to fix this problem. They won’t unless we make them, so let’s do everything we can to help every Syrian, everywhere, lead the life s/he deserves.
