By Jessica Luscombe
Edited by Lennon Airey
In 2011 Syria became captivated by the revolutions that were already sweeping across its other Arab counterparts. What started as graffiti in Daraa quickly spread to violent clashes in Aleppo and the deployment of military personnel to enforce the regime. The calls for President Asad to resign became louder yet on the 10 th of January 2012 Asad made a televised speech stating that he will not stand down and he promises to attack the ‘terrorists’ with an iron fist: This attack raged into the ongoing Syrian civil war, which has caused domestic unrest in the country but has also led to 6.8 million Syrian refugees worldwide, according to the UNHCR, calling into question the immigration policies of many Western countries.
The war is complex and difficult to understand but to simplify Russia and Iran have been supporting the government with Turkey and Saudi Arabia supporting the rebel groups; Israel the US and the UK have carried out airstrikes in Syria. Ultimately this violence had led to the destruction of the lives of millions. The UN Human rights office estimates that 306,537 people have been killed between March 2011 and March 2021. 27,126 are estimated to have been children. Although other estimates suggest the figures to be much higher. This is a clear symbol of the unrest which has enveloped Syria and its’ people since the outbreak of the Civil War.
Although whilst there are still clashes between rebel groups, jihadists, and the SDF (Kurdish military group) there has been a period of relative peace in the major cities, and some are able to live ‘normal’ lives. Yet democracy still ceases to exist despite several rounds of peace talks with UN, such as the Geneva II process and the parallel Astana talks.
However, the devastating February 2023 earthquake may be a turning point. The catastrophic earthquake struck Syria and Turkey killing thousands and destroying complete communities. The earthquake meant more UN aid could be brought into the country, as well as additional passage routes to open for the aid, including into the northern rebel held territories. This demonstrates Asad’s possible increasing willingness to cooperate with IGO’S. There is also strong indications that Asad is been able to ‘wait out the storm’ as in May he attended the Arab League of Nations Conference in Jeddah for the first time since 2011. At the conference Asad met with President Bin Salam whose nation has been funding the anti-Asad rebel groups. This is undoubtedly a key moment for the reintegration of Syria in the international community and hopefully, a step closer to resolving the seemingly endless civil war. The readmission is also cautiously approved by the UN who hope that it will provide space for political peace talks to develop which is the consensus opinion of what is agreed necessary to end the conflict that Amnesty international has called a ‘slaughterhouse’.
Whilst the war is complex and violent it is also tired. It is imperative for the future of Syria and its people that peace talks must now bring the peace that the country longs for. Despite any apprehension towards reallowing Syria into the international community under the Asad dictatorship, it must happen to allow the gift of peace to Syrians, displaced across the globe.
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