Syria: What will make you care?

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 It’s human nature and simple geography: Things that happen far away, to people we have never known from areas of the world we have no connection to, don’t hit us as hard as whatever is happening at home. So if you don’t particularly care about the Syrian Civil War, or the crisis it’s created in places like the city of Aleppo, it makes sense.

The Syrian Civil War has been raging for five years now, and it is, to say the least, a multi-layered conflict. Aleppo is a major city in Syria, and it’s in the news a lot because the rebel-held, eastern part is one of the hardest-hit areas of the war. We’re talking airstrikes and food, water and supply shortages affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
But that doesn’t affect you directly. There are a thousand reasons why you may not care about Aleppo.

The question is, what’s the one reason why you would?

WOULD THE PICTURES MAKE YOU CARE?

Grief-stricken families embracing in the rubble of what used to be their home — a home like any other, like your home. Mothers and fathers crouching over their dead children. A father and son, crushed in place under the wreckage of another airstrike. And these aren’t even among the most iconic images. This is every hour. Every day.

WOULD THE NUMBERS MAKE YOU CARE?

  • 96 children were killed in less than a week (Source: UNICEF Sept. 28, 2016)

That’s five elementary school classrooms, gone in a matter of days. That’s more children than you likely know by name. That’s only one week of fighting.

  • 200,000 to 300,000 persons are trapped in the city (Source: UNOCHA)

When we say trapped, we mean they literally cannot leave. Roads out of parts of the city are under constant attack. That doesn’t only mean people can’t leave, it means things can’t get in; things like food, water, medicine and fuel.

  • More than 470,000 have been killed since 2011 (Source: Syrian Centre for Policy Research)

WOULD THE FRUSTRATION MAKE YOU CARE?

It’s easy to think that, if things were really that bad, someone would surely be doing something about it.
That’s the whole point. The world is trying, kind of. Trying and failing.
The US can’t decide whether to authorize military action against the Syrian regime. Ceasefires designed to help bring aid to people trapped in war-torn areas only last a matter of days. The biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II drags on.
So why don’t people just leave? First of all, even if they actually find a physical way to leave the area, some Syrians are afraid of what the regime will do to them if they flee. Then, if they are successful, it’s not just a matter of waltzing into another country. The path of a refugee is immeasurably dangerous and, as we have seen in harrowing detail, often ends in tragedy.
(To read more of this powerful article, go to CNN.com)

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. I always read about the Middle East and it always hurt me to see how cruel some mankind is…just seeing the disastrous nature of their actions,little children with their head back blow out,women with broken feature,father holding their dead kids etc…would b enough for me quit that war.

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