“Syria: A Case Study”

A Proposal made by:

Shashwat Pratyush

Roll No: 1761

Class: B.A.LL.B.(Hons.)

Semester: 5th

Sugandha Sinha ,

Assistant Professor of Law

A research proposal submitted in partial fulfilment of the course International

Law for attaining the degree B.A.LL.B. (Hons.)

AUGUST,2019

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Nyaya Nagar, Mithapur, Patna (Bihar)-800001

INTRODUCTION

The geographic scope of the conflict in Syria, the number and nature of the parties involved,
and the brutality of the violence have combined to create a situation that implicates an
extraordinary range of international law issues. The Syrian conflict is comprised of myriad
non-international armed conflicts—and arguably several international armed conflicts—being
waged by the Syrian Government, ISIS , as many as a thousand organized armed groups,
several dozen States, and more than ten thousand foreign fighters. This has resulted in at least
450,000 dead, more than four-and-a-half-million refugees, and six-and-a-half-million
internally displaced Syrians. The conflict has spawned innumerable war crimes, including
daily direct attacks on civilians, multiple uses of chemical weapons, and countless
indiscriminate attacks using artillery, cluster munitions, barrel bombs and fuel-air bombs.
State involvement is an issue of singular complexity. Participant States are conducting
operations in Syria based on a variety of arguments, including individual self-defence,
collective self-defence, consent, and (arguably) humanitarian intervention. Some States have
relied on a single legal basis for their actions in Syria, while others cite multiple bases.
Depending on the State, the nature of their involvement ranges from logistical support, to
arming and training proxy forces, to direct action on the ground and in the air. The conflict in
Syria presents an opportunity to consider the international law issues both in the context of
Syria and more broadly with regards to all armed conflicts. After a review of the origins of
the conflict, this article is divided into two broad parts: issues arising in the jus ad bellum and
those arising in jus in Bello. In the first part, the article considers questions regarding the use
of force in Syria, including issues arising from the arming and training of proxies. This part
will focus largely on the actions of the United States, as its activities have implicated many of
the topics addressed in this section. The second part addresses issues of conflict
classification, the conduct of hostilities, the nature of foreign fighters, and the implications of
a cease-fire.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
 For the project, the researcher will be relying upon the Doctrinal method of Research.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 How a peaceful conflict settlement can be found?

 Why international actors are taking too much time to intervene in conflict?
 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

 The researcher tends to critically analyse Civil war in Syria

 . The researcher tends to critically analyse use of force in country.

HYPOTHESIS:

 The researcher presumes that various interest of Regional and International Actors,
fear of peace, no unified and illegitimate opposition platforms delaying peaceful
settlement of the Syrian conflict.

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY:

 Owing to the large number of topics that could be included in the project, the scope of
this research project is exceedingly vast. However, in the interest of brevity, this paper
has been limited to the specified topics.Also, the researcher will have time and money
limitations while making of this project.

TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION
1. INTRODUCTION
2. BACKGROUND OF WAR IN SYRIA
3. USE OF FORCE
4. ARMED CONFLICTS
5. A HEALTH CRISIS OF THE VULNERABLE
6. HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION
7. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY

The researcher has consulted following sources to complete the Rough proposal.

Secondary sources

I. Websites
1. UNHCR. Syria Regional Refugee Response: Inter-agency Information Sharing Portal
[Internet]. data.unhcr.org. 2017. http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/ regional.php.
Accessed 17 July 2017.
2. iDMC. Syria [Internet]. 2017. http://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/ syria.
Accessed 31 Aug 2017.
3. Connor P, Krogstad JM. About six-in-ten Syrians are now displaced from their homes
[Internet]. pewresearch.org. 2016. http://www.pewresearch.org/ fact-
tank/2016/06/13/about-six-in-ten-syrians-are-now-displaced-from-theirhomes/. Accessed
31 Aug 2017.
4. Akbarzada S, Mackey TK. The Syrian public health and humanitarian crisis: a “displacement”
in global governance? Glob Public Health. 2017;44:1–17.
5. Albaster O. Birth rate soars in refugee camp as husbands discourage use of contraception
[Internet]. 2016. independent.co.uk. http://www.independent. co.uk/news/world/middle-
east/birth-rate-soars-in-jordan-refugee-camp-ashusbands-discourage-wives-from-using-
contraception-a6928241.html. Accessed 21 Nov 2017.
6. Reliefweb. Closing Borders, Shifting Routes: Summary of Regional Migration Trends Middle
East – May, 2016 [Internet]. reliefweb.int. 2016. https:// reliefweb.int/report/world/closing-
borders-shifting-routes-summary-regionalmigration-trends-middle-east-may-2016. Accessed
21 Nov 2017.
7. Schweiger G. The duty to bring children living in conflict zones to a safe haven. J Glob Ethics.
2016;12:380–97.
8. Arcos González P, Cherri Z, Castro Delgado R. The Lebanese–Syrian crisis: impact of influx of
Syrian refugees to an already weak state. RMHP. 2016;9:165–72.