[Few refugees have been accepted by the
regional and global players that have supported combatants in the conflict. The
Gulf Arab states and, to a lesser extent, the United States have armed and
trained rebel groups, while Russia and Iran have armed and financed the Assad
government, but those powers have devoted much less to humanitarian aid.]
By Anne
Barnard
Refugees
from
before
crossing into
|
It was never any secret that a rising tide
of Syrian refugees would sooner or later burst the seams of the Middle
East and head for Europe . Yet
little was done in Western capitals to stop or mitigate the slow-motion
disaster that was befalling Syrian civilians.
“The migrant crisis in Europe is
essentially self-inflicted,” said Lina Khatib, a research associate at the University of London and until
recently the head of the Carnegie Middle
East Center in Beirut . “Had
European countries sought serious solutions to political conflicts like the one
in Syria , and
dedicated enough time and resources to humanitarian assistance abroad, Europe would not
be in this position today.”
The causes of the current crisis are plain.
Neighboring countries like Lebanon and Jordan became
overwhelmed with refugees and closed their borders to many, while international
humanitarian funding fell further and further short of the need. Then, Syrian
government losses and other battlefield shifts sent new waves of people fleeing
the country.
Some of these people had thought they would
stick it out in Syria , and they
are different from earlier refugees, who tended to be poor and vulnerable, or
wanted by the government, or from areas hard-hit early in the civil war. Now
those departing include more middle-class or wealthy people, more supporters of
the government, and more residents of areas that were initially safe.
Rawad, 25, a pro-government university
graduate, left for Germany with his
brother Iyad, 13, who as a minor could help his family obtain asylum. They
walked from Greece to save
money, Rawad said via text message, sleeping in forests and train stations
alongside families from northern Syria who
opposed President Bashar al-Assad.
People like Rawad and Iyad have been joined
by growing numbers of refugees who had for a time found shelter in neighboring
countries. Lebanon , where
one in three people is now a Syrian refugee, and Jordan have cracked down on
entry and residency policies for Syrians. Even in Turkey , a larger
country more willing and able to absorb them, new domestic political tensions
make their fate uncertain.
As the numbers of displaced Syrians mounted
to 11 million today from a trickle in 2011, efforts to reach a political
solution gained little traction. The United
States and Russia bickered
in the Security Council while Syrian government warplanes continued
indiscriminate barrel bombing, the Islamic State took over new areas, other
insurgent groups battled government forces and one another, and Syria ’s economy
collapsed.
For years, Yacoub El Hillo, the top United
Nations humanitarian official in Syria , has been
warning that with the Syrian crisis — the “worst of our time” — the
international system of humanitarian aid has “come to the breaking point.”
He said that it cost the United States $68,000
an hour to fly the warplanes used to battle the Islamic State, also known as
ISIS or ISIL , while
the United Nations had received less than half of the money it needs to take care
of the half of Syria’s prewar population that has been displaced.
For neighboring countries alone, just $1.67
billion of the needed $4.5 billion for 2015 has been received. For those
displaced in Syria , $908
million has been given of $2.89 billion needed. This week, World Food Program
benefits were canceled for 229,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan .
Few refugees have been accepted by the
regional and global players that have supported combatants in the conflict. The
Gulf Arab states and, to a lesser extent, the United States have armed and
trained rebel groups, while Russia and Iran have armed and financed the Assad
government, but those powers have devoted much less to humanitarian aid.
At a recent donors’ meeting in Kuwait , Mr. El
Hillo said on Wednesday, he emphasized that “more can be done, not just by
traditional donors but by new donors, chiefly Saudi
Arabia , the United
Arab Emirates and Qatar , to
support humanitarian efforts inside Syria .”
Talk in the Syrian capital, Damascus , among
supporters and opponents of the government alike, has turned to plans for
getting overseas, especially to Europe . It is a
route taken by everyone from the wealthy, whose money cannot always buy them
visas, to the poor, who often sell everything to finance the trip. While rich
and poor alike risk an illegal boat ride to Greece from Turkey , those
with money can fly or ride on other legs of the journey while the poor walk for
days.
There are signs everywhere that not all
those taking the boats are economically destitute. On flights from Beirut to the
Turkish city of Adana , costing
hundreds of dollars, flight attendants plead with passengers over the intercom
not to take the life jackets. Tourist ferry boats from Greek islands to Athens , with
tickets that can cost $100, are full of Syrians.
At first he had moved from place to place
inside Syria , living
“like a hobo,” he said, but with “no job, no money, no house,” he decided to
head to Turkey to work
in a cafe.
Recently, boats to Greece from Turkey have
carried numerous college-educated activists and insurgents who fought both the
government and the Islamic State but have given up for now, seeking new lives
abroad.
Even wealthy Sunni merchants of Damascus are
making plans, including some who, while not big supporters of Mr. Assad, long
put business over revolution, helping him hang on until now.
Abu Moaz, 45, and his two brothers own a cookie
factory just outside Damascus , and
persevered when government forces occupied the area around it and demanded more
and more bribes. They moved the operation to the Midan neighborhood of the
capital, but still government militiamen kept stopping their delivery trucks
for bribes.
“Now we are just working for the
checkpoints,” Abu Moaz said just before leaving. “It is better to start a new
life in Germany .”
He spent $3,500 per person for him, his
wife and two sons to take the deluxe route — by ferry from Lebanon to Izmir, Turkey;
to Greece in an inflatable smuggler’s boat; and to Germany in a
refrigerated truck — rather than walking for a month.
On arrival in Germany , he
reported good news: Some of his friends had new ventures that were already
thriving. “One of my friends opened a Damascene restaurant,” he said. “The
other opened a sweets shop.”
But not all families are that lucky. Aylan
Kurdi, 3, was found lying face down in the surf on a Turkish beach, one of at
least 12 Syrians who drowned nearby.
The boy’s father, Abdullah Kurdi, said in
an interview that the family had fled first from Damascus and later
from their ancestral home, the Kurdish town of Kobani that has
been attacked repeatedly by the Islamic State. They were trying to emigrate to Canada , but
could not get permission to travel legally. His son Ghalib, 5, and his wife, Rehan,
also drowned.
“If they can’t work together to save these
children,” Adnan Hadad, an activist from the Syrian city of Aleppo, wrote on
Twitter as the image of the boy went viral, “the world leaders better find
another planet to rule.”
Karam Shoumali contributed reporting from Istanbul , Hwaida Saad from Beirut , and an employee of The New York
Times from Damascus , Syria .