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

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.