For six years, Syria has been the site of a brutal civil war and one of the most disastrous humanitarian crises in human history.
What started off as a pro-democracy protest against Bashar Al-Assad’s regime has devolved into warfare spanning across the entire country, fought by rebel groups divided into numerous factions, giving rise to the extremist Islamic State (IS), drawing airstrikes from foreign powers (including 26,171 bombs under the Obama administration in 2016 alone), and costing nearly 400,000 civilian lives with approximately 12 million displaced Syrians fleeing a place they once knew as home.
While it has been reported that all fighting parties are responsible for war crimes such as torture, rape, and blocking civilian access to food/water/health services, 94% of Syrian civilians killed have died at the hands of the government of Assad and his allies (one of which being the Russian government led by Vladimir Putin).
On Tuesday (April 4th), Assad’s government conducted one of the worst chemical attacks in the war’s history, releasing sarin gas, an extremely potent nerve agent, on rebel-held Khan Sheikhoun in the hopes of “flattening or demoralizing the opposition.” Dozens of civilians, many of whom were children, died of asphyxiation and approximately 200 were hospitalized or injured in the attack. Not only has Assad used chemical warfare before, but the use of chemical weapons is prohibited by the Geneva Convention, and Syria was supposed to have gotten rid of all its chemical weaponry following the Damascus attack in 2013. Under the Obama administration, Russia and Syria struck a deal that would lead to the decommission of Assad’s chemical weapons, yet Tuesday’s attack is evidence that this “red line” is one Assad is willing to cross again and again.
On Thursday (April 6th), President Donald Trump ordered air strikes on Syria, without first consulting the United States Congress. This move is fraught with mixed responses from lawmakers here and leaders abroad. Putin and his government condemn the strikes and continue insisting that Assad’s regime is not responsible. World leaders from the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan and Germany support the action, calling it a message of strength and hope from the United States. The strikes have also been met with a mixed to positive response from an array of Democratic and Republican officials alike, many of whom praise the initiative but call to the question the constitutionality of the order.
Senator Tim Kaine stated that "Assad is a brutal dictator who must be held accountable for his actions, but President Trump has launched a military strike against Syria without a vote of Congress. The Constitution says war must be declared by Congress."
On top of this, whilst claiming to have been moved by the horrific images of Syrian children suffering from the chemical attacks, Donald Trump’s indefinite ban on Syrian refugees continues to stand, a stark contrast to his message of compassion he claims moved him to take action.
Nevertheless, there are things we as individuals can do to help the situation in this war-torn state:
Donate to groups that play a major role in humanitarian work in the country. Here is a short list:
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
International Committe of the Red Cross
Help integrate your local refugees.
The refugees that have arduously come to the United States have done so to find a place of sanctuary and need help settling. Supporting/donating to groups that advocate refugee resettlement like More Than 10K, is a great way to start. The International Rescue Committee has offices scattered throughout the US that work closely with refugee communities; find the closest one near you and volunteer. If you know Arabic, work as a translator or a mentor in English. You could even send a letter of support and hope to a refugee through CARE.
Contact your representatives (Senate or House).
Urge them to lift the ban on Syrian refugees, especially those who supported Trump’s military action this past week. We the constituents are who our representatives look to make decisions, so pressure them into making the right one.
It will be a long time until Syria finds itself at peace once more. Until then, do not forsake your humanity as the Assad government and various other fighting groups within the country have. Continue to pray, to love and accept refugees that enter our country and to take action against this devastating war.
We will continue to hope for a better future. And one day, it will come.
