Syrian Refugee Crisis Much More Than What Meets the Eye

The ongoing Syrian Civil War that began in the spring of 2011 is a multifaceted armed conflict in Syria that is fought mainly between the government of President Bashar al-Assad, along with its allies, and various forces - the Free Syrian Army, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Salafi jihadist groups, a loose alliance of Sunni Arab rebel groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - opposing the government. The unrest in Syria began alongside a wave of revolutions in the Middle East, known as the Arab Spring, grew out of resentment and discontent with the Syrian government, and was inflamed into an armed conflict after protests calling for the removal of the Assad government were violently suppressed.

Syria, today, is experiencing more than just tensions between rebel and governmental forces. The country faces ethnic tensions, the involvement of world powers, jihadist groups, and other terrorist organizations. In 2016, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identified 13.5 million Syrians requiring humanitarian assistance, of which 6.3 million are displaced within Syria, and over 4.8 million are refugees outside of Syria; half of those affected are children.^[1] The refugee crisis created by the Syrian conflict is dire. António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has stated that “Syria has become the great tragedy of this century.”^[2] Most Syrian refugees remain in the Middle East, in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. Syrians are increasingly seeking protection outside these countries as well; slightly more than 10 percent of the refugees have fled to Europe.^[3]

The aim of this research paper is to analyze the notion, background, nature, scope and legal implications of the ‘Syrian Refugee Crisis’, while also looking at how the international community has responded to the crisis and proposing solutions to the crisis in general.

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