This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USF chapter.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis is complicated as the history is long and the groups and philosophies involved varied. Here, we aim to provide a short, but comprehensive history about the ongoing crisis in Syria, neighboring countries, and impact on the EU. It should be noted the information
included is the most up to date information available – the statistics on the number of refugees are constantly changing.
When did this begin?
The argument can be made that the Syrian crisis is long rooted – back in the 1970 the Assad family came into power in Syria. The family formed a quasi – dictatorship. Fast forward to 2011. Do you remember the powerful revolution in Egypt to overthrow the country? That was the first
in a series of revolutions in the Arab world to overthrow longstanding dictatorships that have a strong hold on the country. These events are now referred to as the Arab Spring.
So what happened?
In Syria, the citizens attempted to overthrow the Assad family. It was not effective. Rather, a civil war broke out in Syria between the government, citizens, and rebel groups. In the midst of the violence and fighting, infrastructure was destroyed, innocent citizens killed, and much
needed supplies (think: medical care) made unavailable to the citizens of Syria. A particular religious extremist group, ISIS, took advantage of the situation of chaos in Syria to enter into the country in an attempt to take over the government and form a religious nation.
Who are the refugees?
There are three groups fighting in the ongoing Syrian Civil War: the government, rebel groups, and ISIS. Nations around the world have offered support to different groups in the civil war as well. The refugees in Syria, approximately 4.4 million (in a country with a starting population of
23 million) are considered refugees. However, approximately 11 million people have been displaced within their homes in Syria– half of the refugees in children.
Where are they going?
The neighboring countries have been taking on a large portion of the refugee crisis. However, these countries were not prepared for the massive influx of refugees, thus the camps that have been established are not equipped to meet the basic needs of the inhabitants. This has lead to
the refugees fleeing again, this time from the camps, and into Europe. The mass migration is most heavily concentrated in the summer months. The route has most commonly been from Turkey into Greece. Last summer, over 800,000 refugees attempted to enter the European Union.
The EU itself can not handle the refugee crisis. The border countries, such as Greece, are undergoing their own economic shambles, which has made them no better equipped to care for.