Syrian Civil War (2011 – present)

Syrian Civil War (2011 – present)

Author:- Nazish B.A.LL.B. final year Student of Saraswati Institute of Law, Palwal

“The people of Syria have suffered enough. I call for you to show vision and leadership in overcoming your differences. A fleeting opportunity for peace has emerged, your duty is to seize it.”

-UN Secretary-General “Ban Ki Moon” on situation in Syria, 18 December  2015.

Background -

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a West Asian country located in the Middle East, with Damascus as its capital. It's officially a republic, yet the citizens lack the right to choose their leader. Bashar Al-Assad is the 19th president of Syria.

Political structure of Syria –

The political structure of Syria is quite complex, it's an authoritarian regime. And can be described as totalitarianism, unitary state and semi-presidential system. President weilds total control over citizens, with power centralised in government. The ruling party, Ba'ath party has been in power since 1963, following a Pan-Arabian ideology, advocating Arab nationalism and socialism. Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, with about 70% to 75% being Arab Sunni Muslims. The country also has numerous minorities, leading to occasional tensions. Changing one's religion is also a big deal in Syria because it will lead to end one's all social ties and may be professional. Reason behind it, is not the state but the Syrian society.

How it started -

The current crisis in Syria is directly affined to date 15th March, 2011. When a peaceful uprising was taking place inspired by "Arab spring" (uprising in Arab countries to bring down their regime) that peaceful demonstration was brutally crushed away by Ba'athist's government through aggressive and violent measures. Opposition supporters retaliates with counterattack. As a result violence shot up and the whole country descended into the state of civil war and various rebel groups emerged during the conflict and soon conflict became more intense and multidimensional after the involvement of foreign powers and extremist jihadist organisation like Islamic States and Al-Qaeda. And all these groups used weapons against each other causing disruption and leaving behind people being homeless and helpless. The reason behind 15 March 2011 uprising was inflation, high unemployment, government corruption, aftermath of 1970's coup, totalitarian rule, no political freedom, discrimination of ethnic minorities, Centralised power and the news related to the Arab Spring further inspired the Syrian people to rise up. It started with a small demonstration in January 2011 and at the end of April it turned into large scale civil war which threw the whole country into a massive economic and political crisis. 

Parties involved in multidimensional crisis -

Countries like Russia (launched an air campaign in 2015 through his military bases in Syria) and Iran (believed to have deployed hundreds of troops and spent billions of dollars to help the president) have backed up with Government while Turkey, Western powers and some Arab States have backed up with opposition (moderate rebel group) by regulating their different level of support because of involvement of terror organization.  How it affected Syrian People -

The 12 years of war have devastated the lives of the Syrian people. Resulting in immense distress and a dire economic situation that Syria has ever faced. The conflict has led to widespread displacement, loss of lives, infrastructure destruction, and a significant humanitarian crisis It's a tragic situation that has affected the lives of countless individuals. Water and Sewage infrastructure were severely damaged. Risking people's life from waterborne diseases including Cholera. Health facilities have been severely impacted, and significant number of health facilities structure destroyed. While majority of health service providers fled the country.

Statistics and facts -

1. Number of Civilians killed as of 2014 - 191,369 ( source- New UN death toll : Al-Jazeera)

2. Number of civilians killed by the extremist Islamic groups in Syria as of March 2023 - 5054 (Source- Stratisa.com)

3. Number of deaths due to torture by Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias in Syria as of March 2023 15,083 (Source - Stratista.com)

According to UNHCR Report 2022 - 

Over 12 million Syrians remained forcibly displaced in the region, including almost 6.8 million within the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) and 5.4 million living as refugees in neighboring countries(Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey), a slight decline from 5.7 million in 2021. Syria was also one of the worst affected countries by Covid-19 pandemic and now it also having to deal with a deadly cholera outbreak and things got even worse after earthquake hit the Syrian border.

Aid around the world-

Numerous organizations and countries have contributed to aid Syria, showcasing international efforts to alleviate the crisis. The contributions include financial support, humanitarian assistance, and aid for specific categories such as food, production, women and girls, cross-border aid, development and stabilization assistance, fund for refugees, and healthcare, highlights a global response to the crisis. Countries like US, UK, Germany, Japan, European Commission and European member states, Norway, Canada, Denmark,etc have contributed in the aid.

Conclusion -

The Syrian Civil War vividly portrays the sufferings of humanity. Syria is now at a point from where reversing the situation seems increasingly challenging, and the condition shows that war is not ending anytime soon. So Syria needs some feasible political reforms. People of Syria still have the hope of survival. War affects every individual, regardless of age, causing unimaginable suffering and hardships. People globally aiding the Syrians and hope of their survival is still there. Although country is still dealing with hunger, poverty and other hardships.

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Reference -

1. "Collective movement Syria" on Wikipedia

2. "Syria revolution from above" - by Hinnebusch Raymond from Internet Archive.

3. "The Economic Development of Syria" by world Bank on Internet Archive.

4. Stratista.com for statistics

5. Groups involved in Syrian Conflict - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belligerents_in_the_Syrian_civil_war#:~:text=The%20major%20parties%20supporting%20the,United%20States%2C%20Britain%20and%20France

6. About Syria - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria 

7. bbc.com