Life Cannot Afford The Pain – Syria In Shatters
Today a kid died in Syria and no one cried because there were no more tears left.
Social media’s fickleness dictates that I cover this article with a feel-good wrap and serve it to you in a plate of cheerfulness. So that, you can share it among your friends, as it is the logical thing to do because you are an armchair warrior with an attention span of five minutes or till the time another well-known actress manages to become “the news”.
However, at the same time, I have not yet lost hope on humanity. If you feel that you should share this because people should know, thank you; human decency would like that too.
After all, it has been just eight years; eight years of children dying, people being uprooted from their houses, being bombarded and humanity slowly ebbing towards just being a word in a dictionary.
The Beginnings Of Chaos And Disruption
In 2000, Bashar al-Assad came to power in Syria. Before that, his father aka Hafez al-Assad ruled the country for thirty years with an iron hand. His authoritarian government frowned upon all kinds of dissent and any voice against the regime was quashed before it could get any momentum. After his death, Bashar took power and he promised that things will be different. However, as soon as the people started grumbling about the working conditions, the standard of living and how things were run in the country; Bashar started showing his true colours. Free speech was cordoned and the economy went into recoil. Bashar made it quite clear that democracy wasn’t there on his agenda.
After years, there was suddenly revolution in the wind. Following extensive oppression, several Middle Eastern countries were starting to voice their dissent against the authoritarian governments. The commoners from Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya started toppling their governments and gradually, that revolution reached Syria.
The Syrian people, charged by what was going on in their country, decided that it was high time for them to retaliate against the regime. Asad, at first, seemed to be on the back foot. He promised to make changes and put the affairs in of his country in order. However, after a short while, he again cracked down on his people, which fuelled more protests in the country. Basher then instructed the Syrian army to open fire against the protesters. This killed any chance of reconciliation between the government and its people. Rebellion groups began to emerge and the government began to launch their offence to silence them. All this is just a preamble to the story.
Where It All Turned To Hell For Syria – Affecting 22 Million People
Now, let’s come to the heart of the story. In this strife between the rebel groups and the Syrian government, each aided by various governments and factions; it’s the commoners who are dying. How many? Well, to be very honest, we’ve lost count. How can you lose count? Because every day more are dying or are on the brink of death and there are no official estimates anywhere of a crisis that doesn’t seem like going to end anytime soon.
Then again, there should be me some estimates, yes? Alright, according to estimates, more than half of Syria’s pre-war population have either been killed; have fled to other countries, in camps, or are running for their lives. Almost 22 million people in broad estimates are currently in dire need of assistance.
They don’t have water; they don’t have clothes; they don’t have a shelter; they don’t have medical aid, and also, they don’t have access to food. The price of bread, which is the basic minimum for sustenance, has upped by 22 times since the crisis broke.
So, if they don’t die from the bombing, the bullets of the gun, the wounds caused by this strife or the adverse weather conditions, they will likely die out of hunger. Millions of human beings will die just out of hunger alone. Let that sink in for a while.
The Dire State Of Women In Syria
However, hold on to your seats. We are not over yet. Let’s have a little talk on the humanitarian efforts. Reports have surfaced that those supplying aids to the camps and the dispersed are now asking for sex from Syrian women in lieu of aids.
So a woman, whose husband has died, has no place to live, has kid or kids in tow, has to now provide bodily pleasure to a man, who is supposedly the one she could trust. Yes, we have sunk that low.
Let’s talk about the children. They have been the worst hit by the crisis. Let’s go through the “fast facts” being shared by UNICEF.
1. “The Syrian conflict has put 2.8 million children out of school: 2.1 inside Syria, 700,000 abroad.”
2. “Syria is the world’s largest producer of refugees. 4.9 million are on the run; half are children.”
UNICEF was so choked by the condition in Syria that it took out a blank statement, accompanied by a message saying, “No words will do justice to the children killed, their mothers, their fathers and their loved ones”.
A War For Purposes Or Means – An UnCivil Cost
So why is no one stopping this war? Why are other countries not intervening? Well, because all of them have vested interested in this war. Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States are all weighing in the war. It has become a show of power and, most probably, it will go on for some more years. Now news is surfacing that North Korea has joined in the fray and is supplying equipment to the Syrian government to help in the making of chemical weapons. Yes, North Korea is run by Kim Jong-un, who, as we all know by now, is a mad dictator.
Even and when this war ends, it will be years before Syria returns to any level of normalcy. Chances are even after a resolution, it will remain a third world economy, licking its wounds and watching its kids die out of malnutrition, lack of health care and sustenance.
Recently, a video was posted by BBC and I am writing a transcript of what a Syrian mother said when she met the journalist in a hospital, where her son was brought in.
“I am waiting for my son to die; At least he’ll be free from pain. I was just making bread for him when the roof fell in. He’s going straight to heaven, At least in heaven there’s food.”
