As Syria enters its fourteenth year of civil war with no political resolution in sight, United Nations aid agencies are appealing to the international community to remember the plight of millions of people who continue to suffer from violence, devastation, destitution and abuse. Thirteen years of crisis have taken an unimaginable toll on the Syrian people, and the UN warns the crisis continues to wreak havoc on the population, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation.
In marking the grim anniversary, Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Adam Abdelmoula and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis Muhannad Hadi issued a joint statement Friday, warning that “the level of needs has never been higher.”
They estimate that 16.7 million people require humanitarian assistance, many of them victims of last year’s destructive earthquakes, which have created a “crisis within a crisis.”
“Today, a record number of people go to bed hungry every night, the health care system is unable to adequately meet people’s needs, basic services are unavailable, and millions of children remain out of school,” they said.
Additionally, the humanitarian coordinators note that after 13 years of warfare, Syria is facing some of the worst conflict-related violence in years, “leading to civilian casualties, displacement and destruction across the country.”
The United Nations reports more than 350,000 civilians have been killed and more than 12 million people have been forced to flee for safety inside and outside the country.
“The displaced have suffered hugely and continue to,” Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), told journalists Friday in Geneva, noting that now more than ever, Syrian refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) need the world’s support.
He said that more than 5 million Syrians have taken refuge in five neighboring countries, while more than 7.2 million are displaced inside Syria.
“These numbers are huge,” he said. “Back in 2015, Syrian refugees dominated the headlines as they moved in search of safety. Sadly, they no longer command that attention, and their plight seems to have been relegated.”
Although Syria perhaps has been forgotten, he said, “Syria remains the world’s largest forced displacement crisis” and cannot be ignored.
He said UNHCR’s humanitarian operations are suffering from a severe cash crunch. He noted that 6 percent of the agency’s US$466.6 million appeal to aid displaced Syrians inside the country has been received, and 10 percent of its US$1.49 billion appeal to assist refugees and host communities has been funded.
“The decline in funding has forced UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies to make difficult choices about what and who to prioritize,” he said, warning that the lack of funding “risks pushing children into labor, gender-based violence, early marriages, school dropouts.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports that nearly 7.5 million children in Syria need humanitarian assistance, “more than at any other time during the conflict.”
The UN children’s agency warned that repeated cycles of violence and displacement, a devastating economic crisis, disease outbreaks and last year’s earthquakes “have left hundreds of thousands of children exposed to long-term physical and psychosocial consequences.”
UNICEF said more than 650,000 children under the age of 5 are chronically malnourished, and a recent survey in northern Syria found that 34 percent of girls and 31 percent of boys suffered from psychosocial distress.
“The sad reality is that today, and in the days ahead, many children in Syria will mark their 13th birthdays, becoming teenagers, knowing that their entire childhood to date has been marked by conflict, displacement and deprivation,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“A generation of children in Syria has already paid an unbearable price for this conflict,” she underscored. “Ultimately, children need a chance. They need a long-term peaceful solution to the crisis.”
That assessment is shared by Geir Pedersen, UN special envoy for Syria, who, in marking “this solemn anniversary of the conflict,” said that “only the unwavering pursuit of a political solution to end this conflict can restore hope to the Syrian people.”
Since he was appointed to his post in 2019, Pedersen has worked doggedly to draft a new constitution as part of a U.N.-mediated negotiated peace process for Syria. Previous meetings of the so-called Syrian Constitutional Committee have failed to make any inroads in the process.
Prospects appear bleak. The committee last met in June 2022. Pedersen says he hopes to convene another meeting in Geneva next month. However, the proposition already has encountered a stumbling block.
While the opposition Syrian Negotiations Committee has accepted the invitation to attend the upcoming meeting, his spokesperson, Jennifer Fenton, told journalists in Geneva that “Pedersen has also received communication from the co-chair nominated by the Syrian government declining the invitation.” She added that Pedersen soon will travel to Damascus.
Thirteen years of conflict in Syria have led to extreme suffering and one of the two largest displacement crises in the world - the other being the war in Sudan - with more than 13.1 million people displaced from their homes.
While 7.2 million women, men and children are internally displaced in their own country, the ongoing civil war has resulted in more than 5.9 million Syrian refugees, located mostly in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Neighboring Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees, currently some 3.2 million people. Germany is the largest non-neighboring host country, with more than 850,000 refugees from Syria.
More than half the population suffers from hunger. Syria, a country that used to be self-sufficient in food, is among the six most food insecure countries in the world.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Joint Statement by UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Muhannad Hadi, on the 13 years’ Anniversary of the Syria Crisis, released March 15, 2024
https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/joint-statement-un-resident-coordinator-and-humanitarian-coordinator-syria-adam-abdelmoula-and-regional-humanitarian-coordinator-syria-crisis-muhannad-hadi-13-years-anniversary-syria-crisis-enar
Full text: Statement Attributable to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Mr. Geir O. Pedersen on the Anniversary of the Syrian Conflict, OSES | Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, released March 15, 2024
https://specialenvoysyria.unmissions.org/statement-attributable-united-nations-special-envoy-syria-mr-geir-o-pedersen-anniversary-syrian-2
Full text: After 13 years of conflict in Syria, more children than ever in need of humanitarian assistance and a chance, UNICEF, press release, published March 14, 2024
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/after-13-years-conflict-syria-more-children-ever-need-humanitarian-assistance-and