"We
have not seen a refugee outflow of such a frightening rate since the Rwandan
genocide" -United Nations High Commission for Refugees director António
Guterres
"The Arab Position" melts as people peer from "Syrian Refugees" tent – Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, December 18, 2013
Thousands of Syrian refugees living in makeshift camps in Lebanon are weathering a winter storm that brought snow, rain and freezing temperatures to the country. Source: UNICEF.
Introduction
The
civil war in Syria, which has been raging for three years, has created an
unprecedented refugee tragedy: The largest displaced population is probably the
"domestic refugees" – those who have remained in the country despite
having lost their dwellings to the destructive forces of war. Nearly as large a
group – and the focus of this paper – are the "refugees" proper,
namely those forced by circumstances of war and violence to leave their country
for an unknown future in mostly neighboring countries.
Demographic
Structure of the Syrian Refugees
One
of the unique aspects of the Syrian refugees is the preponderance of women and
children amongst them. With male heads of families either dead or remaining
behind to take part in the civil war, almost half of the refugees fall in the
age category of 0-17:
Age
Group
Percent
0-4 18.0
5-11
18.9
12-17
12.7
18-59
47.5
60+ 2.8
The
UNHCR estimated the total number of Syrian refugees through September 2013 at
2,241,100, distributed as follows:
Egypt
129,618
Lebanon
841,243
Jordan
567,111
Iraq
207,053
Turkey
539,761
These
number have certainly increased since September 2013 and are likely to continue
to increase next year unless a political settlement to the conflict is found,
which, at the moment, does not seem feasible. Indeed, the destruction of
dwellings, infrastructure, businesses, factories, schools and hospitals makes
the return to normalcy beyond the reach of millions of Syrians.
The
numbers, of course, are probably not entirely accurate. They may, to some
extent, be deflated because of those refugees – particularly those with some
means who moved to Lebanon or Jordan – who have chosen to find a dwelling on
their own. On the other hand, governments hosting the refugees have had a
tendency to exaggerate their numbers in an effort to gain more aid. For
example, Egypt claims to be host to more than 300,000 refugees, while Lebanon
claims the figure to be in excess of one million. We will adhere to UNHCR
figures because they reflect the number of refugees who have officially
registered as refugees with the UN agency.
A
major irony in the refugee problem is that the two countries that are providing
the largest political and military support to the Syrian regime, Iran and
Russia, are not on record as providers of material support or shelter to Syrian
refugees. (It is perhaps also ironic that the winter storm Alexa, that both
heightened and aggravated the situation of the Syrian refugees, originated in
Siberia.) But Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the two countries which have provided
most of the support to the regime's opponents, have not opened their doors to
Syrian refugees either. While all four countries have been arguing either for
the regime or for its opponents about convening an international conference in Geneva
to bring settlement to the conflict, when it comes to the human dimensions of
the conflict, they remain largely bystanders while a tragedy of incalculable
dimension and severity is unfolding before their eyes. There are few cases in
history where the disconnect between the political calculus and the human
suffering is so glaring. The cartoon above dramatically illustrates this point.
Living
Conditions
The
refugees are straining the resources of Jordan and Lebanon with insufficient
foreign aid trickling in. Syrian refugees, except those in Lebanon, live in
tent-filled camps devoid of electricity, running water or adequate food
supplies. In Lebanon, a refugee family receives the equivalent of $275 monthly
to cover the cost of food and shelter, which often pays for shelter only. In
Jordan, the biggest camp is Al-Za'tari, located in the northern part of the
country, close to the border with Syria. It accommodates 120,000 refugees,
making it the fourth largest "city" in the Hashemite Kingdom. One half
of the camp dwellers are children.[1]
A reporter for CNN, Mohammad Jamjoon, observed "scenes of despair"
everywhere. One girl was described as "sockless and in slippers, trudg[ing]
through the snow gathering what is left of it for water. Later, she will need
it for cooking."[2]
Refugee
children may be destined to be illiterate and malnourished. OXFAM has reported
that in Lebanon only 25 percent of the children attend schools. UNICEF, the UN
agency for children, reports that the deterioration of education in Syria and
among Syrian refugees is the worst in the history of the region. In Syria
itself, 3 million children have ceased going to schools because of the fighting
and the destruction of their schools. By UNICEF's estimates, there are one
million Syrian child refugees in neighboring countries, or more than the
combined under-18 population of Los Angeles and Boston.[3]
About 500,000-600,000 of Syrian children refugees are outside any schooling program.
In some parts of Syria, school attendance is about 6 percent. Many of these
children are forced to work, often in factories for long hours for small wages.
Others peddle cigarettes or candies to earn a few pennies to support their
families. The refugee children lack proper nutrition and many of them are
subject to violence, exploitation, and sex abuse.[4]
Source: UNICEF
Political
Implications
For
more than six decades, the Middle East has been preoccupied with the
Palestinian refugees. That will no longer be the case. The enormity of the
number of the Syrian refugees and the very special demographic structure will
likely shove the Palestinian refugee issue onto a back burner. It is the nature
of history that new problems displace old ones. There is an important Roman
legal principle of Lex posterior derogat priori ("most recent law
overrules previous ones on the same matter"). And so will be the case with
refugees.
*
Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli is senior analyst emeritus at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
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