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civil war, homeless, impact, middle east, refugees, statistics, Syria

Estimated Syrian refugees: 1.4 million

Estimated Syrian Internally Displaced Persons: 2 million.

Total combined Syrian IDP and refugee estimate: 3.4 million.

[1,7]

If you think those numbers don’t or won’t alter the politics of a region, have your head examined.

Think too about what it might take to make you leave your home.

Multiply how you feel about that by the numbers provided.

Basically, Syria’s civil war has ballooned into a big old stink, one ugly enough and strong enough to send practically 3.5 million persons fleeing for their lives.

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Blogging associate Avi Melamed noted in the post cited that Israel has “provided medical treatment for Syrians injured during clashes between Syrian rebels and Assad’s military in the Golan Heights.”

Apparently, on occasion, up close and personal, the humans on the edge of Syria’s slaughterhouse know to respond with humanity to their own small part of the disaster.

Not that any good beneficial-to-neutral policy need go unpunished: Reuters, via The Jerusalem Post reports that the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) said it was preparing for new operations after nearly 40 years of quiet on the Israel-Syria border.” [2]

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Oh, it’s the Jews, so it doesn’t matter, right?

Oh, Muslim (Turk), a reminder as if you need it: The Reuter’s lede reads, “Turkey believes fighters loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were behind two car bombings that killed 46 people in a Turkish border town where thousands of Syrian refugees live, officials said on Sunday.” [3]

And from Turkey to Syria, one man’s view, with love:

“None of this would have happened if they were not here. We gave them shelter and protection, this should not be the price,” he said, echoing the prevailing sense of shock in the town of 60,000 now swollen by at least 25,000 Syrian refugees.” [4]

According to the article from which that quote was taken, Turkey today hosts more than 400,000 Syrian refugees.

Why are they there?

Another reminder.

“On November 25, 2012, Salwah was returning home with a neighbor. One of the streets leading to her house was closed, so they took another route. As they set off across a square, a sniper shot Salwah in the back.” [5]

That’s why.

Brave sniper, shooting an unarmed woman in the back . . . .

I’ll bet detaining nine bombers (reported an hour ago in The Christian Science Monitor [6]) turns out a lot easier than resettling and reestablishing 3.4 million homeless.