Ten years on, war keeps peace away from Syria
How the conflict began, let’s read more about the conflict
Since the start of the war in Syria 10 years ago, the lives of Syrian people have been under threat. Back in 2011, the situation quickly shifted from localised protests to a full-scale war, leading to a devastating humanitarian situation that persists a decade later.
Over the course of 10 years, 12 million Syrians – half the pre-conflict population – have been forced to flee the conflict and leave their homes behind, often multiple times, making it the biggest displacement crisis of this century. Many of them are still displaced today. How the conflict began, let’s read more about the conflict…
Even before the conflict began, many Syrians were complaining about high unemployment, corruption and a lack of political freedom under President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father, Hafez, after he died in 2000.
How did it begin and who’s involved
In March 2011, pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the southern city of Deraa, inspired by the “Arab Spring” in neighbouring countries. When the government used deadly force to crush the dissent, protests demanding the president’s resignation erupted nationwide.
The unrest spread and the crackdown intensified. Opposition supporters took up arms, first to defend themselves and later to rid their areas of security forces. Assad vowed to crush what he called “foreign-backed terrorism”.
The government’s key supporters have been Russia and Iran, while Turkey, Western powers and several Gulf Arab states have backed the opposition.
Israel has conducted hundreds of air strikes in an attempt to thwart what it calls Iran’s attempt to become strong in the area.
Impact of war
Loss of lives: Apart from causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, the war has left 1.5 million people with permanent disabilities, including 86,000 who have lost limbs.
As a result of the war, half of the Syrian population has been displaced, and 40% of them are children. The overall civilian death toll from this war is estimated to be close to 600,000.
Neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, which are hosting 93% of them, have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history.
Even if the war ended today, there would be $1.4 trillion in additional consequences of the war through 2035, estimates a report.
If the impact of the war on the Syrian children’s health and education is added to the cost, the figure goes up to $1.7 trillion, the report said. The life expectancy of Syrian children has been reduced by 13 years, adds the report
Economy: In addition to millions of people dead or displaced, the economic cost of the decade-long Syrian war is more than $1.2 trillion in the lost gross domestic product (GDP), according to a new report by a humanitarian aid group.
Environmental loss: While the war in Syria is far from over, the steep environmental toll will pose significant challenges to the country’s recovery when the fighting does eventually stop.
Attacks on oil wells, refineries and industrial facilities have contaminated the country’s soil, air and water. In the absence of effective environmental governance due to the fighting, chemicals and toxic waste are often dumped into lakes and rivers, while deforestation has accelerated.
Yet despite these losses, humanitarian aid to Syria over the last 10 years amounted to $19.4 billion, or just 1.6% of the total economic cost.
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