Syrian Civil War

Syrian Civil War is a global issue, and many people might have found out about it from the news. Syria is a country in the Middle East. The capital city is Damascus, and the official language is Arabic. There is no established religion, but many people believe in Islam. Approximately 18,200,000 people live in Syria. But unfortunately, a civil war is going on in Syria right now, and many deaths and refugees are occurring from this country. It is important to learn about the Syrian Civil War because it affects many people around the world.

The Syrian Civil War started on March 15th, 2011. In this year, Bishar al-Assad was engaging in a dictatorship. He was elected to be the president three times already, so nobody could stand up to him as an opponent. If someone did, that person would disappear and never come back. At the same time, there was a protest movement against tyranny in Tunisia that spread to Syria. This protest was called “Arab Spring”. At first, most of the Syrian people remained silent because they were afraid of Assad. However, not all of them did. In Dara, a city in southern Syria, kids were abused by the police because they wrote some notes against Assad on the wall. Syrian people were enraged by this situation. To show their disapproval, lots of people went out and started to protest for freedom of speech. In less than one month, Assad confronted the citizens with weapons.

Due to the Syrian Civil War, many people died or became refugees. At least 38,600 to a maximum of 59,400 people were killed, and about 12 million people became refugees. Approximately 21 million people lived in Syria before the war, so about half of them left their homes to escape. Because there were so many refugees, the neighboring countries could not handle them all. When their neighbors started to close down the borders, the Syrians went to Europe instead, causing European Refugee Crisis in August 2015. Of course, many refugees and immigrants have come into Europe before, but it is the first time since World War II that millions of refugees poured into the continent. Moving to Europe was a hard journey for the Syrians, too. They had to sail through the sea, and many people died in the water. There is a well-known incident about a boy named Islan Courdi. He was a Syrian refugee, and he was going to Greece with his family. They sailed from Turkey to Greece, but the boat sank and Islan drowned. His body was found in the ocean near Greece. This story made many people realize how serious this refugee issue is.

Some people might think that the Syrian Civil War is something that doesn’t interest them because it is only happening in Syria. However, it is not true. Many countries are still sending soldiers to Syria. And Syrian refugees are seeking places to stay all over the world. The war is a sad incident—people from the same country are fighting against one another. Innocent citizens are wandering around everywhere because they had lost their hometowns due to the war. Because the war has a global impact, it may be important for people to be aware of this tragedy and understand the seriousness of this issue.