Another year is upon us. For Syrians living with the misery of all that the nation’s civil war and bloody turmoil has brought, it means the start of another year of living in squalor, eking out an existence under the canvas of tents in refugee camps or cowering in cellars as barrel bombs fall from the skies.
With all that we are so lucky to have in the UAE, it’s easy for us to forget the plight of the millions forced from their homes over the past almost four years in Syria. On a barren and now cold airfield in northern Jordan, some 250,000 live in Zaatari.
At least they are considered to be the lucky ones, with schools and medical facilities. Elsewhere, many thousands more are being looked after through help from the UAE Red Crescent. Many more live in camps or simply integrate into Jordanian society in any way they can.
In Turkey too, Syrians have found shelter, and the latest move by the Ankara government to extend legal status to the refugees is to be welcomed. Effectively, Turkey is extending its state-run health care and education systems to embrace the most needy.
Inside Syria itself, the situation is desperate, with millions displaced from their homes as the remaining try to survive against the onslaught of violence, death and bloodshed.
That the Syrian regime, the opposition and the international community failed to create safe havens for refugees or allow for the setting up of humanitarian corridors remains a bloody stain on their collective conscience.
The United Nations too has appealed for funds to try and alleviate the plight of the millions who have fled. The sad reality is that too few nations have stepped up to the plate. If only every other nation followed the exemplary deeds of the UAE government in committing money and resources to assist those in need.
The cold depths of winter are now upon those desperate people. It is only we, the lucky ones, who can provide warmth to their hearts.
