The syrian conflict's effect on its "lost generation"
BY SPENCER FRINK
The Syrian Conflict has been a long and bloody crisis that has seen multiple human rights violation committed by both sides. Caught in between the warring factions of President Bashar al-Assad’s government/regime and the Free Syrian Army rebel opposition groups are the children of Syria. Their situation has begun to degrade as the civil war passes its third year mark with little signs of slowing down. Since 2011, Syrian children have been subjected to starvation, torture, mass killings, and soldier recruitment as young as 5 years of age. Syria also has the highest mortality rate of children and infants of any recent conflict. The public awareness as well as the continuation of aggressive humanitarian aid and relief is extremely vital in preserving the health and minds of Syria’s “Lost Generation.”
The Children of Syria
Following the events of Arab Spring in December of 2010, the Syrian people began to protest in key cities in the thousands against the Syrian Government and its President Bashar al-Assad. The movement began by in large as a non-violent, non-sectarianism, peaceful, activist movement during the spring of 2011. However, the country has since erupted in violence and the death toll continues to mount as new figures come in daily. A byproduct of the widespread violence is the mounting infant and child mortality rate in the past three years and has to continued climb in numbers. What’s more is there are growing reports from U.N. investigators and eyewitness accounts of evidence of human rights violations to Syrian children.
Many Americans claim that they have a working knowledge of the events in Syria, however, we find through polls and surveys that this is not the case. Though video footage and a number articles of the Syrian conflict exists, there is still a disconnect between the awareness and knowledge of Americans and what is actually taking place in Syria’s civil war. What do we really know about the events happening in Syria and are we provided enough information to grasp the situation in its entirety? To investigate further we need to answer these questions:
1. How did the Syrian Crisis come to pass?
2. Why are Syrian children being affected so significantly?
3. What support are the children/refugees receiving?
4. What are the purposed solutions for the Syrian children?
What this literary review intends to provide is a reason for the current human rights violations of Syrian children, who are responsible for letting these events occur, and what are the realistic solutions to reverse the growing mortality rate among these children.
Following the events of Arab Spring in December of 2010, the Syrian people began to protest in key cities in the thousands against the Syrian Government and its President Bashar al-Assad. The movement began by in large as a non-violent, non-sectarianism, peaceful, activist movement during the spring of 2011. However, the country has since erupted in violence and the death toll continues to mount as new figures come in daily. A byproduct of the widespread violence is the mounting infant and child mortality rate in the past three years and has to continued climb in numbers. What’s more is there are growing reports from U.N. investigators and eyewitness accounts of evidence of human rights violations to Syrian children.
Many Americans claim that they have a working knowledge of the events in Syria, however, we find through polls and surveys that this is not the case. Though video footage and a number articles of the Syrian conflict exists, there is still a disconnect between the awareness and knowledge of Americans and what is actually taking place in Syria’s civil war. What do we really know about the events happening in Syria and are we provided enough information to grasp the situation in its entirety? To investigate further we need to answer these questions:
1. How did the Syrian Crisis come to pass?
2. Why are Syrian children being affected so significantly?
3. What support are the children/refugees receiving?
4. What are the purposed solutions for the Syrian children?
What this literary review intends to provide is a reason for the current human rights violations of Syrian children, who are responsible for letting these events occur, and what are the realistic solutions to reverse the growing mortality rate among these children.
How did the Syrian Crisis come to pass?
The events of the Syrian Conflict were formed much earlier by the seeds of the Arab Spring. In December of 2010, an oppressed Tunisia began a revolution that spread to other Arab nations when a Tunisian man, in protest, set himself aflame on the steps of a government building. As the rest of the Arab nations began to revolt against their respective regimes, most notably Egypt, everything was being streamed real-time via social media and video sharing sites. The viewers of this modern day viral-rebellion were surprisingly “unknowns,” that is, by teen to thirtysomethings women and men, mostly without political activism.” (Kahf, 2013, pg.6) However, the youth of Syria were watching and felt the fullness of the Arab Spring. With fall of the Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak’s regime many Syrians felt that their time had come as well, and it was best put by a Syrian professor, “By itself, Tunisia might have been a fluke, far away from the Syrians. [However] Egypt, for over a century a to which Syrians looked as a younger sister looks toward and older sister, made rising up look possible in Syrian eyes.” (Kahf, 2013, pg.4)
There was early skepticism by anti-western, pro-government forces that western nations and their Syrian supporters were manipulating these events. However it became clear as time progressed that the “uprising did not come from the dissidents with whom the U.S. embassy staffers in Damascus had coffee with in the 2000’s or from the populations that the CIA … knew in the slightest how to recruit as proxy agents.” (Kahf, 2013, pg.6) This was due to the fact that a large proportion of the protest movement came from rural areas outside the major cities, being made up primary of women and youth.
It must be made clear that the protest movement in Syria started as non-violent demonstrations in its infancy. In early March of 2011 there were approximately 400,000 protesters demonstrating in southern Damascus, most were chanting “peaceful, peaceful” while holding olive branches. The Syrian movement seemed to follow the formula of Tunsunian and Egyptian revolutions which was the obvious strategy since most the young Syrians only exposure to protesting was through the viral videos and social media sites they observed a few short months before.
The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian Armed Forces (SAF) response were quick and brutal. U.N. reports that many peaceful demonstrations were met with gunfire while protesters were taken by force as prisoners and tortured for information. In July of 2011, Sunni defectors of the Syrian military had announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and that they would bring down the Assad regime as while hold all accountable for the brutality against the protest movement. Clashes with the FSA and opposing rebellion groups have been a pitched battle, with Assad’s regime unable to control the opposition across the country due to the fact that “the single greatest liability that the Assad regime has faced in employing its forces has been the challenge of relying on units to carry out orders to brutalize the opposition.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.12) This would indicate that Assad’s only active military forces are reduced to only the most trusted select few, while the rest have either deserted or have been restricted to their respective bases. This circumstance has been the major cause of prolonging the Syrian conflict, and in turn has allowed the opportunity for the abundant human rights violations and displacement of Syrian children.
The events of the Syrian Conflict were formed much earlier by the seeds of the Arab Spring. In December of 2010, an oppressed Tunisia began a revolution that spread to other Arab nations when a Tunisian man, in protest, set himself aflame on the steps of a government building. As the rest of the Arab nations began to revolt against their respective regimes, most notably Egypt, everything was being streamed real-time via social media and video sharing sites. The viewers of this modern day viral-rebellion were surprisingly “unknowns,” that is, by teen to thirtysomethings women and men, mostly without political activism.” (Kahf, 2013, pg.6) However, the youth of Syria were watching and felt the fullness of the Arab Spring. With fall of the Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak’s regime many Syrians felt that their time had come as well, and it was best put by a Syrian professor, “By itself, Tunisia might have been a fluke, far away from the Syrians. [However] Egypt, for over a century a to which Syrians looked as a younger sister looks toward and older sister, made rising up look possible in Syrian eyes.” (Kahf, 2013, pg.4)
There was early skepticism by anti-western, pro-government forces that western nations and their Syrian supporters were manipulating these events. However it became clear as time progressed that the “uprising did not come from the dissidents with whom the U.S. embassy staffers in Damascus had coffee with in the 2000’s or from the populations that the CIA … knew in the slightest how to recruit as proxy agents.” (Kahf, 2013, pg.6) This was due to the fact that a large proportion of the protest movement came from rural areas outside the major cities, being made up primary of women and youth.
It must be made clear that the protest movement in Syria started as non-violent demonstrations in its infancy. In early March of 2011 there were approximately 400,000 protesters demonstrating in southern Damascus, most were chanting “peaceful, peaceful” while holding olive branches. The Syrian movement seemed to follow the formula of Tunsunian and Egyptian revolutions which was the obvious strategy since most the young Syrians only exposure to protesting was through the viral videos and social media sites they observed a few short months before.
The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian Armed Forces (SAF) response were quick and brutal. U.N. reports that many peaceful demonstrations were met with gunfire while protesters were taken by force as prisoners and tortured for information. In July of 2011, Sunni defectors of the Syrian military had announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and that they would bring down the Assad regime as while hold all accountable for the brutality against the protest movement. Clashes with the FSA and opposing rebellion groups have been a pitched battle, with Assad’s regime unable to control the opposition across the country due to the fact that “the single greatest liability that the Assad regime has faced in employing its forces has been the challenge of relying on units to carry out orders to brutalize the opposition.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.12) This would indicate that Assad’s only active military forces are reduced to only the most trusted select few, while the rest have either deserted or have been restricted to their respective bases. This circumstance has been the major cause of prolonging the Syrian conflict, and in turn has allowed the opportunity for the abundant human rights violations and displacement of Syrian children.
What Support is the Syrian Children/Refugees Receiving?
The first and very real support for the Syrian people leaving the country is the refugee camps along the borders of their neighboring countries. “One in 10 children – over 1.2 million – have fled the country to become refugees in neighboring countries. … by the end of January 2014, 37,498 Syrian children had been born as refugees.” (UNICEF, 2014, p.3) Though the impact of the humanitarian relief provided by these countries has saved thousands of children’s lives, there are unintended consequences from the mass exodus of Syrian refugees with “nearly one million (official) Syrian refugees displaced in Lebanon, almost half are children” (Morrison, 2014, pg.1) The economic and social strain that has been placed on nations such as Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq has come to the tipping point as the Syrian Crisis has come to its third anniversary. The arrival of thousands of refugee families has pushed up requirements for already “inadequate supplies of electricity and water by up to 100 per cent in some areas in Jordan.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12) Countries such as Lebanon were already in dire straights prior to the arrival of Syrian refugees and “estimates that in Lebanon, 170,000 local people are currently being pushed into poverty by the Syrian crisis.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12) The prospects in the refugee camps are bleak with many children working 12-13 hour jobs for trivial wages. Many of these children have to provide for themselves as UNICEF has reported, “at least 8,000 children have arrived at Syria’s borders without their parents.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.6)
When dealing with support for the Syrian people, public awareness should be addressed as it provides the catalyst in which corrective action is produced. Public awareness was at an all time high during the Arab Spring of 2010-2011, however, as with most media and current events, the longer the event takes place the greater the attention of the public wanes. In a current study/survey that the author has conducted, random samplings of Americans were questioned on their current understanding of the situation of the Syrian Crisis. The results seem to concur that ‘while’ the Syrian Crisis was current in media attention, the working knowledge of Americans was relatively accurate. However, as the conflict extended to three years, the knowledge of Americans significantly dropped off in terms of awareness and accuracy. The results of the question “How many children have died since the Syrian Crisis began in 2011?” less than half of test subjects answer correctly, while 62.5% thought that less than 2,000 children had died. Since 2011 over 11,000 children have died due to the conflict. Other results indicating the waning knowledge of Americans were prevalent as well. The results from the question “Whose fault is it that the Syrian children are not receiving Humanitarian relief?” overwhelmingly agreed that the Syrian Regime is at fault (75%) while the FSA and associated rebel groups enjoyed 0% of the votes. While early on the conflict, the Syrian government was in fact the main culprit in blockading humanitarian relief, as of 2013-2014 there has been a sharp increase of rebel groups looting humanitarian relief supplies. This concurs with the lack of awareness of current event taking place in Syria.
Funding from private, non-profit organizations such as Red Cross, Save the Children, and United Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been instrumental to providing the much-needed supplies and care to Syrian child. Many organizations are raising record-breaking funds to respond to the mounting crisis of Syria. UNICEF alone “is seeking U.S. $276 million in funds for its education work - double the amount of last year.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.16) They also plan to break through the rest of 2014 with the “No Lost Generation”(UNICEF, 2014, pg.16) initiative, which will bring around U.S. $1 billion dollars. While the sheer amount of work and results are impressive to say the least, these organizations are still severely unfunded to take on all the Syrian needs. As of March 2014 the requirements of funds from surrounding nations are climbing to “U.S. $835 million dollars.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12) At this point and time UNICEF has only enough funds to cover “approximately 8% these requirements.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12)
Pressure to put international sanctions on President’s Bashar al-Assad’s regime would have put significant pressure on the government to follow regulations to warfare. However, when the United Nations put the sanctions to a vote, Russia and China choose to either abstain from the vote (China) or outright veto it (Russia.) Both ambassadors did not show up to the 15 – member council meeting, which essentially nullifies the proposed sanctions. In an interview presented by the Associated Press’s Edith Lederer, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was quoted saying “This text would not have any positive impact on the situation … If anything, it would create disruption of humanitarian efforts." (Lederer, 2014, pg.1) Russia and China have since prevented the past three previous western-backed resolutions in an effort to put pressure on the Syrian regime. However, the U.N. has enjoyed some progress in bringing relief and aid to the citizens still trapped inside Syria. U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is citied saying that “local authorities and representatives of all sides have evacuated more than 800 people from Old Homs and brought food and medical supplies to people who have had little aid for nearly two years.” (Lederer, 2014, pg.1)
The first and very real support for the Syrian people leaving the country is the refugee camps along the borders of their neighboring countries. “One in 10 children – over 1.2 million – have fled the country to become refugees in neighboring countries. … by the end of January 2014, 37,498 Syrian children had been born as refugees.” (UNICEF, 2014, p.3) Though the impact of the humanitarian relief provided by these countries has saved thousands of children’s lives, there are unintended consequences from the mass exodus of Syrian refugees with “nearly one million (official) Syrian refugees displaced in Lebanon, almost half are children” (Morrison, 2014, pg.1) The economic and social strain that has been placed on nations such as Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq has come to the tipping point as the Syrian Crisis has come to its third anniversary. The arrival of thousands of refugee families has pushed up requirements for already “inadequate supplies of electricity and water by up to 100 per cent in some areas in Jordan.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12) Countries such as Lebanon were already in dire straights prior to the arrival of Syrian refugees and “estimates that in Lebanon, 170,000 local people are currently being pushed into poverty by the Syrian crisis.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12) The prospects in the refugee camps are bleak with many children working 12-13 hour jobs for trivial wages. Many of these children have to provide for themselves as UNICEF has reported, “at least 8,000 children have arrived at Syria’s borders without their parents.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.6)
When dealing with support for the Syrian people, public awareness should be addressed as it provides the catalyst in which corrective action is produced. Public awareness was at an all time high during the Arab Spring of 2010-2011, however, as with most media and current events, the longer the event takes place the greater the attention of the public wanes. In a current study/survey that the author has conducted, random samplings of Americans were questioned on their current understanding of the situation of the Syrian Crisis. The results seem to concur that ‘while’ the Syrian Crisis was current in media attention, the working knowledge of Americans was relatively accurate. However, as the conflict extended to three years, the knowledge of Americans significantly dropped off in terms of awareness and accuracy. The results of the question “How many children have died since the Syrian Crisis began in 2011?” less than half of test subjects answer correctly, while 62.5% thought that less than 2,000 children had died. Since 2011 over 11,000 children have died due to the conflict. Other results indicating the waning knowledge of Americans were prevalent as well. The results from the question “Whose fault is it that the Syrian children are not receiving Humanitarian relief?” overwhelmingly agreed that the Syrian Regime is at fault (75%) while the FSA and associated rebel groups enjoyed 0% of the votes. While early on the conflict, the Syrian government was in fact the main culprit in blockading humanitarian relief, as of 2013-2014 there has been a sharp increase of rebel groups looting humanitarian relief supplies. This concurs with the lack of awareness of current event taking place in Syria.
Funding from private, non-profit organizations such as Red Cross, Save the Children, and United Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been instrumental to providing the much-needed supplies and care to Syrian child. Many organizations are raising record-breaking funds to respond to the mounting crisis of Syria. UNICEF alone “is seeking U.S. $276 million in funds for its education work - double the amount of last year.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.16) They also plan to break through the rest of 2014 with the “No Lost Generation”(UNICEF, 2014, pg.16) initiative, which will bring around U.S. $1 billion dollars. While the sheer amount of work and results are impressive to say the least, these organizations are still severely unfunded to take on all the Syrian needs. As of March 2014 the requirements of funds from surrounding nations are climbing to “U.S. $835 million dollars.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12) At this point and time UNICEF has only enough funds to cover “approximately 8% these requirements.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.12)
Pressure to put international sanctions on President’s Bashar al-Assad’s regime would have put significant pressure on the government to follow regulations to warfare. However, when the United Nations put the sanctions to a vote, Russia and China choose to either abstain from the vote (China) or outright veto it (Russia.) Both ambassadors did not show up to the 15 – member council meeting, which essentially nullifies the proposed sanctions. In an interview presented by the Associated Press’s Edith Lederer, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was quoted saying “This text would not have any positive impact on the situation … If anything, it would create disruption of humanitarian efforts." (Lederer, 2014, pg.1) Russia and China have since prevented the past three previous western-backed resolutions in an effort to put pressure on the Syrian regime. However, the U.N. has enjoyed some progress in bringing relief and aid to the citizens still trapped inside Syria. U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is citied saying that “local authorities and representatives of all sides have evacuated more than 800 people from Old Homs and brought food and medical supplies to people who have had little aid for nearly two years.” (Lederer, 2014, pg.1)
Why are the Syrian Children being affected so significantly?
The Assad regime began addressing the conflict as a counterinsurgency, however due to the dynamics of the engagements and vast support that opposition rebels have received, the counterinsurgency transformed into civil war. Since the Syrian government did not have the sheer manpower to wage an effective counterinsurgency campaign, instead “the Assad regime has tended to force civilians out of insurgent-held areas, rather than clear insurgents out of population centers.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.12) This includes, but is not limited to, blockades of humanitarian aid, artillery and mortar strikes, surface-to-ground ballistic missiles, TNT “barrel bombs,” mass executions, and chemical weapons attacks. With the accumulating amount of civilian casualties, reports from humanitarian organizations and the Security Council of the United Nations have concluded, “Assad thus transformed the clear-and-hold counterinsurgency strategy into a form of ethnic cleansing.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.19)
Syrian children have felt the effects of this kind of open warfare in record numbers. Though exact numbers inside Syria cannot be confirmed, U.N. investigative reports completed by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as well as other foreign nations have all concluded “as of January 2014, more than 10,000 children have lost their lives to Syria’s violence … Most have reportedly died in the last 24 months.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.4) Many reports have citied that while the actual government forces have not fully engaged to target children almost half of their forces are now Pro-Assad militias. These militias are mostly “Alawite shabiha mafias are led by extended members of the Assad family” (Holiday, 2013, pg.7) and these groups have been purported to commit the worst violence to rebel controlled areas. In a report to the United Nations Security Council, by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon describes some the events taking place to Syrian children and youth.
“Ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture reportedly included beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric shocks, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement; and exposure to the torture of relatives. Reports indicate that children were also suspended from walls or ceilings by their wrists or other limbs, were forced to put their head, neck and legs through a tire while being beaten, and were tied to a board and beaten.” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.6)
And although the Pro-Assad forces have been mostly the guilty party in these mass executions, it would be very hard to pardon the Syrian military from all violence.
Another factor that has been extremely worrisome to organizations like UNICEF and Save the Children is the long-term blockades to cities such as Homs. Homs has been blockaded since the beginning of 2012 and has not received humanitarian relief since the middle of 2012. The results in Homs and other cities have been dramatic. Syrian parents have come in droves seeking medical attention for malnourished children. Some from hundreds of miles away escaping capture from checkpoints as well as dodging sniper fire from Syrian government forces. Even still, the medical facilities and most of the refugee facilities are unable to help these children. An anonymous medical physician in describes his experiences as “We used to see one child with life-threatening malnutrition less than once per month. Now there are ten cases or more every week.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.7)
The casualties are not just limited to small children and toddlers. There are many hospitals that have high infant mortality rates because the facilities are unable to keep the power on for incubation cribs keeping newborns warm. While many medical facilities struggle to keep power running, hundreds have been flatten to the ground. Save the Children, a humanitarian aid non-profit organization, current reports have “60% of hospitals and 38% of primary health facilities have been damaged or destroyed.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.1) Not only has the physical medical infrastructure has been severely hurt but the circulation of medication and vaccination and “production of drugs has fallen by 70%.”(Save the Children, 2014, pg.1) What’s worse, the March 2014 report also states that “nearly half of Syria’s doctors have fled the country: in Aleppo, a city which should have 2,500 doctors, only 36 remain.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.1) This again only exacerbates the number of deaths for infants as statistics puts March “2011 only 19% of mothers in Syria delivered via caesarian section. By 2013, this had more than doubled to 45%.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.5) This is due partly to the lack of physicians but also to the fact that long hours of labor keep the mothers/newborns in danger of being shelled and mortared.
During the beginning of the Syrian Conflict the government forces were primarily held responsible of most if not all of the violence against children, however, in past three years more reports are indicating that the opposition rebel groups are beginning to commit human rights violations against children. According to a U.N. Security Council Report “Children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic” the main offense committed by these rebel groups is “the recruitment and use of children by FSA-affiliated groups.” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.4) The rebels have been seen training children as young as four to five years of age in weapon manipulation and demolitions. Not only have the FSA groups have been actively recruiting children but also they have been raiding humanitarian aid trucks. According the U.N. report “Jabhat al-Nusra (armed opposition rebels) reportedly looted three humanitarian trucks containing 3,000 food baskets between Al Mayadin to Deir ez-Zor.” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.14)
The Assad regime began addressing the conflict as a counterinsurgency, however due to the dynamics of the engagements and vast support that opposition rebels have received, the counterinsurgency transformed into civil war. Since the Syrian government did not have the sheer manpower to wage an effective counterinsurgency campaign, instead “the Assad regime has tended to force civilians out of insurgent-held areas, rather than clear insurgents out of population centers.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.12) This includes, but is not limited to, blockades of humanitarian aid, artillery and mortar strikes, surface-to-ground ballistic missiles, TNT “barrel bombs,” mass executions, and chemical weapons attacks. With the accumulating amount of civilian casualties, reports from humanitarian organizations and the Security Council of the United Nations have concluded, “Assad thus transformed the clear-and-hold counterinsurgency strategy into a form of ethnic cleansing.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.19)
Syrian children have felt the effects of this kind of open warfare in record numbers. Though exact numbers inside Syria cannot be confirmed, U.N. investigative reports completed by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as well as other foreign nations have all concluded “as of January 2014, more than 10,000 children have lost their lives to Syria’s violence … Most have reportedly died in the last 24 months.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.4) Many reports have citied that while the actual government forces have not fully engaged to target children almost half of their forces are now Pro-Assad militias. These militias are mostly “Alawite shabiha mafias are led by extended members of the Assad family” (Holiday, 2013, pg.7) and these groups have been purported to commit the worst violence to rebel controlled areas. In a report to the United Nations Security Council, by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon describes some the events taking place to Syrian children and youth.
“Ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture reportedly included beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric shocks, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement; and exposure to the torture of relatives. Reports indicate that children were also suspended from walls or ceilings by their wrists or other limbs, were forced to put their head, neck and legs through a tire while being beaten, and were tied to a board and beaten.” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.6)
And although the Pro-Assad forces have been mostly the guilty party in these mass executions, it would be very hard to pardon the Syrian military from all violence.
Another factor that has been extremely worrisome to organizations like UNICEF and Save the Children is the long-term blockades to cities such as Homs. Homs has been blockaded since the beginning of 2012 and has not received humanitarian relief since the middle of 2012. The results in Homs and other cities have been dramatic. Syrian parents have come in droves seeking medical attention for malnourished children. Some from hundreds of miles away escaping capture from checkpoints as well as dodging sniper fire from Syrian government forces. Even still, the medical facilities and most of the refugee facilities are unable to help these children. An anonymous medical physician in describes his experiences as “We used to see one child with life-threatening malnutrition less than once per month. Now there are ten cases or more every week.” (UNICEF, 2014, pg.7)
The casualties are not just limited to small children and toddlers. There are many hospitals that have high infant mortality rates because the facilities are unable to keep the power on for incubation cribs keeping newborns warm. While many medical facilities struggle to keep power running, hundreds have been flatten to the ground. Save the Children, a humanitarian aid non-profit organization, current reports have “60% of hospitals and 38% of primary health facilities have been damaged or destroyed.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.1) Not only has the physical medical infrastructure has been severely hurt but the circulation of medication and vaccination and “production of drugs has fallen by 70%.”(Save the Children, 2014, pg.1) What’s worse, the March 2014 report also states that “nearly half of Syria’s doctors have fled the country: in Aleppo, a city which should have 2,500 doctors, only 36 remain.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.1) This again only exacerbates the number of deaths for infants as statistics puts March “2011 only 19% of mothers in Syria delivered via caesarian section. By 2013, this had more than doubled to 45%.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.5) This is due partly to the lack of physicians but also to the fact that long hours of labor keep the mothers/newborns in danger of being shelled and mortared.
During the beginning of the Syrian Conflict the government forces were primarily held responsible of most if not all of the violence against children, however, in past three years more reports are indicating that the opposition rebel groups are beginning to commit human rights violations against children. According to a U.N. Security Council Report “Children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic” the main offense committed by these rebel groups is “the recruitment and use of children by FSA-affiliated groups.” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.4) The rebels have been seen training children as young as four to five years of age in weapon manipulation and demolitions. Not only have the FSA groups have been actively recruiting children but also they have been raiding humanitarian aid trucks. According the U.N. report “Jabhat al-Nusra (armed opposition rebels) reportedly looted three humanitarian trucks containing 3,000 food baskets between Al Mayadin to Deir ez-Zor.” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.14)
What are the Proposed Solutions for the Syrian Children?
Though most people with a working knowledge of the Syrian Conflict might initially voice that putting an end to the war would be the most significant action to help the children of Syria, experts tend to disagree. Joseph Holiday documents in his article, The Middle East Security Report 8, that is President Bashar al-Assad and his regime were to fall that “remnants of the Syrian military and the powerful pro-regime militias are likely to wage a fierce insurgency against any opposition-led Sunni government in Syria that might emerge after Assad.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.10) This is indicative of the ever-mounting fears of a continued Syrian warfare, and has the potential to last well past the original consensus of how long before all parties come to a peaceful resolution. Holiday goes on to finish his report by warning us that “There will be no moment of opposition victory in Syria if Bashar al-Assad falls, only transition to a new phase of the conflict.” (Holiday, 2014, pg. 40)
What most experts from non-profit organizations all the way to United Nations Secretary-General have recommended, apart from “allowing and facilitating full unimpeded humanitarian access to all affected populations” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.16), is the humanitarian relief and aid to the 500,000 refugees of the Syrian Crisis now relocated in neighboring nations. The main bulk of resources should be directed to medical facilities, child education, and child psychological support.
Though funds are being attained through non-profit organizations and pledges by nations, there have been many health recommendations for refugee mothers to prevent infant deaths that require little to no money. Some medical experts have provided Save the World recommendations that Syrian women should utilize what’s called ‘Kangaroo Mother Care.’ They go on to describe it as a “method involves infants being carried, usually by the mother, with skin-to-skin contact … promoted as a first intervention in place of incubators for premature and low birth-weight babies.” (Save the Children, 2014, Pg.11) This helps prevent newborn children dying early on due to the incubators losing power and the infants freezing to death over night. Also Syrian women tend to use formula milk instead of breastfeeding, however doctors recommend that “Agencies and health workers operating in Syria should prioritize and promote exclusive breastfeeding over breast-milk substitutes for infants aged six months and under.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg. 12) All this should be coupled with the rebuilding of a healthcare infrastructure and an aggressive vaccination program, as old diseases such measles and polio are starting to resurface.
Aside from the refugee crisis, the most important item to Syrian children’s safety is the immediate agreement of all parties to cease the targeting of Syria children. The number one recommendation from Save the Children was stated in their latest report, A Devastating Toll, and made clear that “Most importantly, all parties to the conflict must immediately implement UN Security Council resolution 2139 and allow unfettered humanitarian access to all parts of Syria; the international community must make implementing this resolution its top priority.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.12)
Though most people with a working knowledge of the Syrian Conflict might initially voice that putting an end to the war would be the most significant action to help the children of Syria, experts tend to disagree. Joseph Holiday documents in his article, The Middle East Security Report 8, that is President Bashar al-Assad and his regime were to fall that “remnants of the Syrian military and the powerful pro-regime militias are likely to wage a fierce insurgency against any opposition-led Sunni government in Syria that might emerge after Assad.” (Holiday, 2013, pg.10) This is indicative of the ever-mounting fears of a continued Syrian warfare, and has the potential to last well past the original consensus of how long before all parties come to a peaceful resolution. Holiday goes on to finish his report by warning us that “There will be no moment of opposition victory in Syria if Bashar al-Assad falls, only transition to a new phase of the conflict.” (Holiday, 2014, pg. 40)
What most experts from non-profit organizations all the way to United Nations Secretary-General have recommended, apart from “allowing and facilitating full unimpeded humanitarian access to all affected populations” (Ki-moon, 2014, pg.16), is the humanitarian relief and aid to the 500,000 refugees of the Syrian Crisis now relocated in neighboring nations. The main bulk of resources should be directed to medical facilities, child education, and child psychological support.
Though funds are being attained through non-profit organizations and pledges by nations, there have been many health recommendations for refugee mothers to prevent infant deaths that require little to no money. Some medical experts have provided Save the World recommendations that Syrian women should utilize what’s called ‘Kangaroo Mother Care.’ They go on to describe it as a “method involves infants being carried, usually by the mother, with skin-to-skin contact … promoted as a first intervention in place of incubators for premature and low birth-weight babies.” (Save the Children, 2014, Pg.11) This helps prevent newborn children dying early on due to the incubators losing power and the infants freezing to death over night. Also Syrian women tend to use formula milk instead of breastfeeding, however doctors recommend that “Agencies and health workers operating in Syria should prioritize and promote exclusive breastfeeding over breast-milk substitutes for infants aged six months and under.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg. 12) All this should be coupled with the rebuilding of a healthcare infrastructure and an aggressive vaccination program, as old diseases such measles and polio are starting to resurface.
Aside from the refugee crisis, the most important item to Syrian children’s safety is the immediate agreement of all parties to cease the targeting of Syria children. The number one recommendation from Save the Children was stated in their latest report, A Devastating Toll, and made clear that “Most importantly, all parties to the conflict must immediately implement UN Security Council resolution 2139 and allow unfettered humanitarian access to all parts of Syria; the international community must make implementing this resolution its top priority.” (Save the Children, 2014, pg.12)
Is It Too Late?
As of the latest reports in March of 2014, the current numbers of refugees escaping into other nations, mortality rates of adults as well as children/infants, and the human rights violations committed against Syrians have continued to rise with no signs of slowing down. Experts from multiple fields have concluded that the fall of the Syrian government will likely not stem the tide of bloodshed, but in fact only prolong it. Non-profit organizations as well as ambassadors of world powers have taken up the call to provide funding and resolutions for the safe keeping of the Syrians still residing in Syria. While Russia and China have effectively blocked any future resolution for implementing sanctions on the Syrian government, the United States have issued its own sanctions on Syria. The implements of other nations following suit would increase significant pressure on Bashar al-Assad to desist in allowing pro government forces to commit acts of atrocity. However, the greatest obstacle of the protecting the children of Syria is the lack of knowledge of the crisis and/or the crisis fading away from public view. As the war continues to drag on, new current events fill the spot and public awareness is then shifted to other matters. The faster the funding and relief can be provided to Syrians the less likely the humanitarian aid will dry up before projected requirements are met. There are many social media sites as well as non-profit organization funded sites promoting the continued awareness for the Syrian crisis. Being involved, keeping yourself current, and promoting awareness is most likely to be the most effective way in providing solutions to the suffering of Syrian children.
References:
Abdelaziz, S. (2014, February 5) Syrian children dying of hunger. CNN World. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/world/syria-children-dying-hunger/
Frink, S.J. (2014, March 12) “The Syrian Crisis and its effect on its Children as of March 2014” Survey Monkey. Retrieved from https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JZSCJTV
Institute for the Study of War (2013) The Middle East Security Report 8 – The Assad Regime. Washington, DC: Holiday, J
Friends for a Non-violent World (2013) The Syrian Revolution Then and Now. (v1.1) Saint Paul, MN: Kafh, M.
United Nations Security Council (2014) Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic. Ki-moon, B.
Lederer, E.M. (2014, February 10) “Russia, China skips Security Council talks on Syria” Associated Press. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/russia-china-skip-security-council-talks-syria-214829285.html
Morrison, S. (2014, March 4) 'No one cares': The tragic truth of Syria's 500,000 refugee children. THE INDEPENDENT. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/no-one-cares-the-tragic-truth-of-syrias-500000-refugee-children-9144503.html
Congressional Research Service (2013) Syria’s Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress. Washington, DC : Nikitin, M. D., Kerr, P. K., Feickert, A.
Save the Children (2014) A Devastating Toll: The Impact of Three Years of War on the Health of Syrian Children. London, UK
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (2014) Under Siege: The devastating impact on children of three years of conflict in Syria. Amman, Jordan
As of the latest reports in March of 2014, the current numbers of refugees escaping into other nations, mortality rates of adults as well as children/infants, and the human rights violations committed against Syrians have continued to rise with no signs of slowing down. Experts from multiple fields have concluded that the fall of the Syrian government will likely not stem the tide of bloodshed, but in fact only prolong it. Non-profit organizations as well as ambassadors of world powers have taken up the call to provide funding and resolutions for the safe keeping of the Syrians still residing in Syria. While Russia and China have effectively blocked any future resolution for implementing sanctions on the Syrian government, the United States have issued its own sanctions on Syria. The implements of other nations following suit would increase significant pressure on Bashar al-Assad to desist in allowing pro government forces to commit acts of atrocity. However, the greatest obstacle of the protecting the children of Syria is the lack of knowledge of the crisis and/or the crisis fading away from public view. As the war continues to drag on, new current events fill the spot and public awareness is then shifted to other matters. The faster the funding and relief can be provided to Syrians the less likely the humanitarian aid will dry up before projected requirements are met. There are many social media sites as well as non-profit organization funded sites promoting the continued awareness for the Syrian crisis. Being involved, keeping yourself current, and promoting awareness is most likely to be the most effective way in providing solutions to the suffering of Syrian children.
References:
Abdelaziz, S. (2014, February 5) Syrian children dying of hunger. CNN World. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/world/syria-children-dying-hunger/
Frink, S.J. (2014, March 12) “The Syrian Crisis and its effect on its Children as of March 2014” Survey Monkey. Retrieved from https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JZSCJTV
Institute for the Study of War (2013) The Middle East Security Report 8 – The Assad Regime. Washington, DC: Holiday, J
Friends for a Non-violent World (2013) The Syrian Revolution Then and Now. (v1.1) Saint Paul, MN: Kafh, M.
United Nations Security Council (2014) Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic. Ki-moon, B.
Lederer, E.M. (2014, February 10) “Russia, China skips Security Council talks on Syria” Associated Press. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/russia-china-skip-security-council-talks-syria-214829285.html
Morrison, S. (2014, March 4) 'No one cares': The tragic truth of Syria's 500,000 refugee children. THE INDEPENDENT. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/no-one-cares-the-tragic-truth-of-syrias-500000-refugee-children-9144503.html
Congressional Research Service (2013) Syria’s Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress. Washington, DC : Nikitin, M. D., Kerr, P. K., Feickert, A.
Save the Children (2014) A Devastating Toll: The Impact of Three Years of War on the Health of Syrian Children. London, UK
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (2014) Under Siege: The devastating impact on children of three years of conflict in Syria. Amman, Jordan
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