Instead of airstrikes, send food to starving Syrians
Syria was in the news last week after President Biden ordered air strikes on targets used by Iranian militias. What’s been tragically forgotten though is the dangerously escalating hunger crisis inside Syria.
Our policy must be more directed against hunger in Syria and throughout the Middle East. Food must become the top priority for the region. Throwing around bombs in the Middle East is not a solution — we have been doing that for years. Food must come first instead.
The UN World Food Program says a record setting 60 percent of Syria’s population,
12.4 million people, now live in hunger. The hunger crisis is escalating inside Syria because of an ongoing civil war and economic crisis made worse by the spread of COVID-19.
“The situation has never been worse. After ten years of conflict, Syrian families have exhausted their savings as they face a spiraling economic crisis,” says WFP’s Syria director Sean O’Brien.
The WFP feeds close to 5 million Syrians a month which is practically the only source of supply for these war victims. It is a dangerous mission and also complicated because of the logistics and diplomacy needed in order to deliver food in a conflict zone.
These food deliveries are the only hope for Syrian families. Specialized nutritional foods for infants fight off deadly malnutrition. WFP also provides school feeding to help encourage hungry kids to attend class. But all of this depends on funding from the international community. If the world takes its eyes off Syria and what is really happening, then innocent victims suffer.
The WFP still needs about $375 million in funding to provide relief to Syria. There clearly has to be more money spent on food for the Middle East than armaments. For children this is most urgent.
Save the Children warns that over 6 million kids in Syria are now going without food, an increase of 35 percent in the last several months.
“These figures are incredibly shocking; the number of children going hungry has risen by a third in just four months,” says Sonia Khush, Save the Children’s Syria Response Director. “The situation is in a steep downward spiral — people are feeling helpless. We are worried that young lives will be lost because children don’t have any food to eat.”
Syrian families are being forced into desperate measures, including child labor. What Syria needs most of all is for the United States and allies to be fully engaged on humanitarian relief and peacemaking.
What you do back at home can make the difference. Writing to the president and Congress can urge them to increase humanitarian aid.
One thing we have to realize, especially during this pandemic, is the worsening hunger crisis all over the globe. Food aid budgets, which were relatively small to begin with, need to be drastically increased. This is especially vital for Syria and other war-torn nations.
The Biden administration offers hope for a change of course from the failed Middle East policies of recent years. War and hunger have only escalated in the region. A food instead of arms policy is our best hope and one the Biden administration must implement.