Syrian War
P4TW
20/04/2022
Syria
Capital: Damascus�Language: Arabic (85%)
�Ethnic Groups*:
Religion
A war bound Century: leading up to Syrian War
1967: Six-Day War between Egypt, Israel and Syria, Israel took two-thirds of Golan Heights in <48 hours
1973: Yom Kippur War, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, however, Israel reversed Syrian gains and gained more Syrian territories
Late 1970s: Rise of Muslim Brotherhood, leading to 1982 Hama Massacre, 10-40k people killed by Syrian army troops.
2000-2001: Damascus Spring, social movement for reform, suppressed.
2003: Israel bombed Syria near Damascus…
Syrian War
Inspired by the Arab Spring revolutions, large scale peaceful protests in 2011, later on developed into civil war.
Government: attacked protesters. Protesters form the Free Syrian Army
“Islamic State” (IS) announced Caliphate from Aleppo to Diyala, Iraq → UN/US+Arab states bombed IS.
Syria became a battle field of worldly great powers, local history, of flame, blood and flesh.
Casualties.
Deaths, 2022 estimation: 610,000 people, around 160,000-230,000 are civilians.
Caused 7.6 million internally displaced people and over 5 million refugees (2017)
84% of refugees went to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
Current Situation in Syria
Considering: Living standards, coping mechanisms, physical and mental wellbeing
>12 mil experience food poverty, cannot feed themselves.
553,000 chronically malnourished children
Hyperinflation in Syria
Syrian pound collapsed in 2020
2010: 46 SYP = 1 USD
2020: 515 SYP = 1 USD
2022: 2512 SYP = 1 USD
Route to peace?
2012, 2016, 2018 peace talk - to write a constitution that offers free and fair election supervised by UN. All failed.
Latest: October 2021 talk – Big Disappointment, no agreement reached.
There is still no clear path to peace.
A Syrian Experience
The Wait - Asylum Seekers
2021: 48,540 applications for Asylum. Some have waited more than 5 years for initial decision..
As of June 2021, the total ‘work in progress’ asylum caseload: 125,000 cases.
Of these, 57,000 cases were awaiting an initial decision at the end of 2020, 5,900 were awaiting the outcome of an appeal, and approximately 39,500 cases were subject to removal action.
£40.85 a week
Prayer Items
Peace
Plight of the people to be lifted
Educate ourselves about refugees, love our neighbours
Resources
Recommended reading/listening: The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Directory for mental health and social support for Refugees and Migrants: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/mhpss-directory
Refugee Action: https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/about/