Lots of terrible events are currently happening in the world right now. The genocide in Palestine and the war between Russia and Ukraine, are both horrific to see the loss by both of these. It’s even more terrible to see that they are not the only horrible events. Syria, a country in the middle-east has had a genocide since 2011. The death toll since 2011 is already half a million and there is no saying that there won’t be more to come.
Background
Syria’s government is totalitarian, meaning the government controls nearly every aspect of human life. This was common in the middle-east which led to Pro-democracy protests called the “Arab Spring.” Many uprisings appeared from this in Middle Eastern countries like Syria. The protests were peaceful and consisted of marches through the streets, but peace was not given in return. One protest started because fifteen school teens were not arrested and tortured for writing graffiti that went against the government. People began marching in the streets to let the students go, but the protestors were met with violence. The open fire was released by the government, killing four, and then on top of that, the government fired during the funerals, killing another. The President, Bashar al-Assad, began to place harsh punishment on those who tried to speak out against the government, killing even more.
Escalation
As protests began all across the country, the threat of a civil war came. Armed forces opposed the government, and in response came many chemical weapon attacks. The first in 2012 killed 1,200. After all the chemical weapon attacks between 2012 and 2013, 90,000 lives were taken. Airstrikes took out towns and neighborhoods from the Syrian government as well as the Russians and Irani. All have been allies since the Cold War. Due to these alliances, unfortunately, the civil war is leaning against the people and towards the authoritarian government.
Aside from the civil war, the Islamic State in Iraq in Syria is an extremist group. This group is extremely violent and has gained power, especially in Syria. Their main target is anyone who is not Sunni. Even just moderate Sunnis are a target. Shia Muslims and Yazidi Christians have been attacked the most as the largest religious minorities in Syria. In 2015, ISIS had powerful control over most of the country. While their control was almost completely gone by 2020, they still murdered and killed many just because of their religion.
Effects
All of this has led to many refugees trying to escape Syria. The holocaust memorial museum says that 6.6 million refugees across many countries and still 6.7 are displaced inside Syria. Many more could actively be in harm’s way or will be soon. Half of the population was already forced out of their homes and the war is not over yet.
As said before, Russia is allied with Syria. Russia has prevented the UN from talking about this conflict in Syria. This means the UN cannot investigate the war crimes that Syria is committing and the genocides. Without potential help from the UN, the dictator-president of Syria can continue the troubled state that Syria is in. Despite that, The US is supporting the rebel groups while Russia is supporting the government against the civilians.
Syria has been in this conflict for over a decade now. This situation is much more than just a civil war, but a murder of civilians. Millions of people are either dead, displaced, or refugees because of this conflict. Worse than this, Syria is not the only one that has had or has this situation.
Sources:
https://stopgenocidenow.org/conflicts/syria/
https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/syria/syria-introduction
