Skip to main content

Big powers, wide range of vested interests, military-industrial complex, playing havoc with lives of Syrians

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj*
Syria continues to suffer and struggle. March 15th marks the sixth anniversary of the bloody Syrian war. This afternoon (March 14th), a bomb blast in the city of Homs killed one and injured several. On March 12th, a double bombing near a popular Shiite shrine in Damascus killed over fifty and scores more were left injured. Since December, the eastern areas of Aleppo have been evacuated, but the bombings continue.
The Syrian war, over these six years, has resulted in the deaths of thousands and caused the largest displacement in human history. After experiencing widespread destruction and insecurity, there is a certain desperation and a sense of fatigue among the Syrian people. The general feeling is that most are ready to clutch at any straw, to fan any glimmer of hope.
They yearn for peace, security and stability and want the bombarding and the air strikes to stop now. The UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), in a statement for the sixth anniversary says, “While there are some hopes for peace, the needs and suffering of millions of Syrians continue unabated.”
Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees adds, “Unless drastic measures are taken to shore up peace and security for Syria, the situation will worsen. Families have been torn apart, innocent civilians killed, houses destroyed, businesses and livelihoods shattered. It is a collective failure. Ultimately, Syria’s conflict isn’t about numbers – it’s about people.”
Today an estimated 13.5 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance and children make up half of that number. Children have lost their childhood; nearly 3 million Syrian children under five have grown up knowing nothing but conflict... More than 6.3 million people are internally displaced within Syria. About 4.9 million others (the majority women and children) have fled to neighbouring countries in the Middle East, including Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. These have put the host communities under huge strain as they shoulder the social, economic and political fallout. Hundreds of thousands have made perilous sea voyages seeking sanctuary; no one is sure how many may have died at sea.
The plain truth is that the suffering of the Syrian people who are refugees and internally displaced, continues with no end in sight. Harsh weather conditions and limited access to basic resources gravely affect displaced families and individuals. Making ends meet is a daily struggle for both the displaced within Syria and those who have fled the country and sought refuge elsewhere. Sizeable sections of them are living in extreme poverty, unable to secure food, water, or medical provisions. Key cities in Syria today have no water, electricity and gas or very little access to these essential commodities.
Delivering humanitarian aid to war-affected populations within Syria is still an urgent issue. There is also the ongoing concern that some neighbouring countries are unable to provide adequate assistance to meet the basic needs of refugees. This lack of assistance threatens the safety of vulnerable people and the stability and security of the region.
Nevertheless, there is hope! There are innumerable stories of resilience in war-torn Syria among the forcibly displaced and from among the Syrians who have sought refuge in other countries. Majeda, a woman from Damascus who fled with her family in search of safety, still holds onto her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Kassem is a young man who, in spite of losing a leg in a bomb blast in Syria, is studying in a school in Lebanon and one day wants to become an art teacher.
There is Randa who has escaped the horrors of war but is now writing a book for little children telling them why war is all wrong. There is Mohamed Qasim, who now lives in Jordan. He suffers from cancer, but with a ‘never-say-die’ spirit is determined to give his little children a better future.
The ‘big powers’ and the wide range of vested interests, particularly the military-industrial complex, continue to play havoc with lives and destinies of the Syrians. There are ‘peace talks’ which take place among the ‘big guys’; not too many however, place too much of hope on them. Majeda, Kassem, Randa and Mohamed are simple, ordinary people.
Each one of them has experienced the horrors of war in profoundly traumatic ways. They represent today, the spectrum of innumerable Syrians who have suffered immensely, but look towards a better future for themselves and for their children. They are some of the many, brave individuals who with their indomitable spirit, want to live a normal peaceful life and look to the future with hope.
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) of the MENA Region has been working in the midst of the Syrians who are displaced. Despite the challenges, JRS has stayed the course in Syria during the six years of conflict, addressing and serving those in urgent need while advocating for and with Syrians, for life with dignity.
In Damascus and Homs, JRS operates education centres in parallel with child protection programs and psychosocial care for children and adults. In Aleppo, JRS teams provide those most vulnerable with emergency humanitarian assistance of food baskets and non-food items.
When medical facilities in Aleppo came under ferocious bombardments, JRS continued to provide health services. In Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, JRS works with hundreds of Syrian refugees, providing them with emergency assistance as well as ongoing educational and psychosocial support.
In spite of the darkness that this conflict casts over all Syrians, JRS staff and volunteers have also experienced many moments of hope. On March 15th this year, JRS will launch a campaign (you can see a preview HERE) to highlight the stories of Syrians living both inside and outside of the country.
The Campaign will focus on the hope and resilience of the Syrians; of light overcoming darkness, Lola Moussa, who originally hails from the countryside near the city of Homs in Syria, sums up the struggles of the Syrian people meaningfully saying “there is still suffering and much pain - but what keeps us going on is our courage to hope and our continued resilience.”
---
*Indian human rights activist, currently working as advocacy and communication officer of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) of the MENA Region

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey*   Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.
4 comments
»

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD *  It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.
Post a Comment
»

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan*  “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.
3 comments
»

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram*  In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.
Post a Comment
»

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan   The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by  Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.
1 comment
»

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah  A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.
2 comments
»

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad   In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.
Post a Comment
»

Development at what cost? The budget's blind spot for the environment

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  The historical ills in the relationship between capital and the environment have now manifested in areas commonly referred to as the "environmental crisis." This includes global warming, the destruction of the ozone layer, the devastation of tropical forests, mass mortality of fish, species extinction, loss of biodiversity, poison seeping into the atmosphere and food, desertification, shrinking water supplies, lack of clean water, and radioactive pollution. 
Post a Comment
»

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava*  Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.
1 comment
»