SEVEN YEARS OF WAR IN SYRIA: SIX-PAGE REPORT ON A CONFLICT THREATENING TO TEAR THE WORLD APART

Seven years of utter devastation, with lives shattered and a nation torn apart, and it’s now entering an eighth. Our staff and contributors give eight reasons why the world needs to take action now

March 15, 2011: A “Day of Rage” is called in Syria to shake Bashar Al Assad’s regime, with ordinary Syrians demanding an end to corruption, nepotism and injustice. Seven years ago, each week of peaceful protests would be given a new name – “the uprising continues”, “traders and revolutionaries, hand in hand until victory” – but as the weeks rolled into months and years, and as violence engulfed Syria, the names were dropped. Aspirations and dreams of an enlightened reform process led by Al Assad were defeated. The Day of Rage was met with brute force and the Syrian uprising turned into war.

March 15, 2018: Entire areas in Syria are out of the regime’s control, while others are under siege. Damascus is littered with checkpoints, occasionally struck by mortars to remind the Syrian regime that the opposition, while weak, is not dead. Iranian, Turkish, American and Russian soldiers and militiamen on the ground are embroiled in a regional war, with international impact, on Syrian soil. Political deals on de-escalation are struck in Sochi or Astana, with no Syrian representation.

Seven long years of war have taken their toll on Syria and its people. The Arab world continues to feel the weight of that war. As Syrians sought refuge, a displacement of more than 13 million people has torn the fabric of society. A mass movement of more than 5 million people dispersed to neighbouring countries. A displacement not seen since Palestinians lost their homeland 70 years ago, with more than half of Syrians living in camps.

For those in Syria and abroad, the physical and mental traumas are compounded by the fact that no end is in sight.

They say that in war, the first victim is the truth. And with the rise of “fake news”, the truth may seem to have died. Yet there are definite truths that cannot be ignored. Should not be ignored. More than half a million people have died. Two million Syrian children are out of school. Half of the country’s population is displaced. The governance system of the UN has failed and the principle of the “right to protect” has, in essence, been written off. Countless Syrians have died, been injured, lost loved ones, gone missing.

Journalists all over the world have borne witness to this tragedy. Some, like Khaled Al Essa and Marie Colvin, lost their lives to cast a light on this dark war. Our reporters and contributors explain here why the urgency to end it cannot subside, because it has gone on for too long.

With the Syrian war entering its eighth year, this must be its last. Not only because it has resulted in the worst humanitarian crisis of this century – which should be enough reason – but because its repercussions on our international system are detrimental.