Syrian War: A Reflection

Children are highly valued in Syria. They are seen as divine gifts, and the more children a
person has, the more fortunate he or she is seen to be.

I could hardly believe that in the video I watched it has seemed to be the opposite of the
culture they had in the country. I regret to witness how people mourn the death of the children. It
is too miserable to see the sufferings they experienced at the height of the civil war. I was very
touched.

For the children it was like a bad dream. They could not believe what happened as they
were strongly affected by the disastrous war which is causing them pain. The sufferings they
have to endure because of the losses of their family and loved ones were severe, overly pathetic
and unimaginable.

The Syrian refugee crisis has been named the most massive refugee and displacement
crisis of our time. The citizens and permanent residents of the Syrian republic have fled and
continue to flee their country since the onset of the Syrian war. According to the United Nations,
13.5 million people out of the Syrian 22 million prewar populations require humanitarian
assistance. More than eleven million Syrians are on the run. Of the eleven million, about six
million are displaced internally in Syria. More than five million have fled outside Syria and are
seeking asylum in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Most
of the Syrian refugees are hosted in Turkey. As of August 2017, there were more than one
million Syrian registered as asylum applicants in Europe.

The United Nations has verified that at least 350,209 civilians and combatants were killed
between March 2011 and March 2021, but it has warned that it is an "undercount of the actual
number". UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said 26,727 victims were women and 27,126
were children.

Over half of the Syrian civil war victims are children. Some specific threats to children
include diseases and malnutrition; child labor, including becoming child soldiers; child marriage
and abuse; and lack of education opportunities.
 Children are susceptible to ailments brought on by poor sanitation and hygiene, including
diarrheal diseases like cholera. They may miss vaccinations and regular health checkups,
especially in cut-off areas. In poor housing, cold weather increases the risk of pneumonia and
other respiratory infection. Lack of access to healthy foods weakens them further. The children
affected by the civil war are vulnerable to diseases and malnutrition. The diseases are brought
about by poor nutrition, starvation, and poor sanitation standards. Besides, the young children do
not receive vaccination and checkups while in the refugee camps. The poor housing also exposes
the refugees to cold-weather ailments such as pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.

Many refugee children have to work to support their families. Often, they work in
dangerous or demeaning circumstances for little pay. Warring parties often also forcibly recruit
children to use as fighters or human shields, and in support roles, according to the U.S. State
Department’s Trafficking Report.

Syrian children are more vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation in the unfamiliar
and overcrowded conditions found in refugee camps and informal tent settlements. Without
adequate income to support their families and fearful of their daughters being molested, parents
may opt to arrange a marriage.

In Syria, the war reversed two decades of educational progress. At the beginning of 2017,
a survey carried out showed that only 61% of the Syrian Children Refugees had accessed some
form of schooling. Approximately 0.8 million of the Syrian children have gone for a year or
more without attending to any form of schooling. Most of the schools are not in use because they
have been vandalized during the civil war. One in three school-aged children are not in school.
Many classes are suspended because buildings were damaged or destroyed, or are occupied by
military groups or displaced people. Many displaced children have minimal or no access to
education. It is of great sadness that fighting still continues, despite international agreements for
de-escalation. The Syrian refugee crisis remains the world’s largest refugee and displacement
crisis of our time.

Many Syrians children have never known a time without war. For millions of them, the
conflict has stolen their childhood and affected their long-term physical and mental health as
well as their prospects for the future. Many children caught up in this crisis have lost family
members and friends to the violence, suffered physical and psychological trauma, and found
themselves without access to education.

Eleven years of war have inflicted immense suffering on the Syrian people. Since the
Syrian civil war officially began March 15, 2011, families have suffered under brutal conflict
that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, torn the nation apart, and set back the standard
of living by decades.

When this war will end remains an open question. It does not look like it will end
anytime soon, nonetheless everyone agrees that a political solution is enforced to resolve this
chaos. We would not want our children to live in a world with this kind of injustice, this kind of
suffering, this kind of hunger and violence.

The lives of children, their families and the communities where they live shall be
improved and humanitarian aid must be provided. It is only right that wealthy nations help
countries like Syria to change and improve their condition especially the welfare of children. All
nations should work together especially wealthy countries to share responsibility for protecting
children and all refugees. Hopefully they will realize how children must be valued and may they
never forget that children are regarded as gifts of God.