Wave of Syrian Refugees

Social crisis is not a new phenomenon in Syria. This country is part of the Middle East geopolitical area. It is a country where three continents converge: Europe, Africa, and Asia. Syria has been dominated by the Assad dictatorship from 1971 to 2015; Assad’s father governed from 1971 to 2000. Later, Assad’s son led the government from 2001 to 2015. Moreover, the United States intervention (after 9/11 in 2001) in the Middle East destabilized the political power equilibrium because radical Muslims considered this as a real war beginning between East and West. As a result, the first big signal of alarm was the Arab Spring. Also, in March of 201, Syrians mobilized to protest against the Assad government. At that time, Syrians organized a huge demonstration to request Assad’s resignation. However, the current president did not leave power, so the civil war started in Damascus and Aleppo in 2012.

The population of Syria numbered 23 million people in 2011. Twelve percent of Syrians have been killed from 2011 to 2015. Besides, about five million Syrians have been displaced to another country or continent, such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Europe, America. In these circumstances, migration could be the best option for many Syrians because the war has destroyed the country, and radicalization of some powerful groups has increased, such as Islamic State. However, the majority of Syrian people do not have enough resources (human capital and monetary capital) to move on to another country.

Nowadays, political and social circumstances in Syria are complicated for the following reasons. First of all, most of the people are against the current government (75 percent). Second, powerful countries are intervening in the conflict, for instance, the United States, Russia, and France. Third, Syria is a geopolitical area in the Middle East. Finally, Syria’s instability affects the equilibrium of regional political powers, so a single domestic conflict generates international answers on both sides of the conflict. In brief, when someone tries to understand the Syrian conflict, it is impossible to forget the image of thousands of people leaving their country. That means the biggest refugee crisis of the twenty-first century. Thousands of Syrians are leaving their country because they want to save themselves, and to get better opportunities in life. For that reason, diverse international organizations are helping Syrians to emigrate.

In summary, the Syrian conflict is a complicated issue because there are domestic and worldwide interests. It is impossible to analyze the conflict without reference to ancient and recent Syrian history. Civil war has ravaged the daily life of thousands of people, and international organizations try to help. However, powerful countries have a lot of geopolitical interests in this area. Also, civil war in Syria could be the beginning of the strongest conflict between divergent world perspectives: Eastern and Western.