The advances made by Syrian government forces with Russian backing in recent days has effectively set in motion the final stage of an assault on Aleppo. Regardless of the outcome of that battle, the advance has resulted in at least 75,000 desperate refugees fleeing the city, trying to seek shelter across the nearby border with Turkey. And given the strategic importance of Aleppo, if it falls totally under the control of forces aligned with President Bashar Al Assad, then a further huge wave of refugees will be forced to pick up what’s left of their shattered lives, and follow the path of pity into exile.
These past five years have seen half of Syria’s population either displaced internally, living under conditions that are extremely difficult — only a third have access to fresh water, and six million children are homeless — or seek shelter in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
Lebanon is bursting at the seams and its economy has taken a hit of $13 billion (Dh47.81 billion) on its gross domestic product as a result of the refugee crisis. Jordan says it is simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume and it needs an immediate injection of close to $2 billion to simply provide food and shelter. And Turkey has half a million refugees living in camps, with many thousands more expected in the post-Aleppo apocalypse wave.
And despite the promises of nations to provide billions in aid to help the millions of desperate and desolate, it’s still not enough. It’s now up to each of us to help. What have you done? Can you give more? Or can you sleep at night knowing you didn’t help?
