Syria is the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time, a continuing cause of suffering for millions which should be garnering a groundswell of support around the world.
Syrian refugees Aya, 8, and Layth, 6, from Aleppo, pictured with their mother, Fatima (not her real name) at a train station in Slanishte, Macedonia, on the border with Serbia. The children's father is still in Syria. Fatima says, "I am scared to travel as a lone woman with no man to protect us. The children cry all the time and say they want to go back. The most difficult part of our journey has been here in Macedonia, we were very afraid crossing the border because we heard that gangs might attack us. And now the weather has been very bad but thank God we found shelter here." ; Travelling with groups of Syrian refugees who are making their way through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM) towards Serbia and on to Germany and Scandinavia. Regulations in Greece prohibit asylum-seekers from residing in border regions. The large group of Syrian refugees, numbering around 400, had spent the previous day walking through the rain and finally found shelter at the train station late in the evening. Hundreds of refugees and migrants are traveling through Macedonia everyday on their way north through the Balkans, in an attempt to reach western Europe. They use whatever means of transport is available including trains and bicycles, however many end up walking the entire distance
As Syria’s war reaches another grim milestone today, refugees fleeing the 5-year conflict face greater hurdles to finding safety while international solidarity with its victims is failing to match and reflect the scale and seriousness of the humanitarian tragedy.
“Syria is the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time, a continuing cause of suffering for millions which should be garnering a groundswell of support around the world,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, adding that only a political settlement would end the suffering but more countries had to take a greater share of refugees in the meantime.
While there are recent glimmers of hope with increased humanitarian access in Syria, the cessation of hostilities, renewed peace talks and promises of better funding, the 5th anniversary of Syria’s war comes amid a backdrop of increasingly managed borders by neighboring countries, creaking under the strain of hosting so many refugees. This is leaving thousands of vulnerable people stranded inside Syria, unable to leave the country.
Further afield, European states which once welcomed Syrians are now bringing down the shutters in the wake of increasing numbers of refugees seeking safety there. Several countries have imposed entry and border restrictions, leading to a build-up of tens of thousands of refugees in Greece, while the European Union is in discussions with Turkey on an agreement that could potentially see asylum-seekers sent back to Turkey. Meanwhile, refugees in countries neighboring Syria are more vulnerable than ever and taking increased risks to survive – embarking on dangerous journeys to Europe or resorting to dangerous survival strategies such as child labor, early marriage or sexual exploitation.
High Commissioner Grandi said that while higher donor pledges of $5.9 billion for the 2016 appeal for humanitarian and development aid in London last month were welcome, funds need to be urgently disbursed and matched by other forms of international solidarity. These include better access to livelihoods and education for the majority of refugees in neighboring countries and a greater sharing of responsibility by more countries around the world, through open asylum systems and increased opportunity for Syrians to move to third countries through organized channels.
“A tragedy of this scale demands solidarity beyond funding. Put simply, we need more countries to share the load by taking a greater share of refugees from what has become the biggest displacement crisis of a generation,” Grandi said.
On 30 March, UNHCR will be hosting a high-level international conference in Geneva, calling on governments for a major increase in places for Syrians. To date, some 170,000 such places have been pledged by governments around the world. UNHCR hopes to increase that to at least 10 per cent of the registered refugee population, currently at 4.8 million people in the immediate surrounding region alone, over the next few years. Coming on the heels of the 5th anniversary of Syria’s war, the 30 March meeting will be opportunity for governments and communities globally to concretely boost their support for Syrians.
“We are at a crossroads now as we mark another sad milestone in Syria’s war: if the world fails to work together due to short-term interests, lack of courage and knee-jerk reactions to shift the burden elsewhere, we will look back ruefully on this lost opportunity to act with solidarity and shared humanity,” Grandi said.
Five years on, Syria’s conflict has spawned 4.8 million refugees in neighbouring countries, hundreds of thousands in Europe, and 6.6 million people displaced inside Syria against a pre-war population of over 20 million.
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