The Green Timberwolf

Syrian War Displaces Hundreds of Thousands

Blogged By: Emma, Janson, Alyssa, Samantha

Many people know of the ongoing refugee crisis in Syria, although few know how it all commenced. In March of 2011, at least 15 teenagers were arrested and tortured for painting pro-democracy slogans on a school wall. This provoked outrage and citizens took to the streets to protest against the government at that time. After the protesters were shot at by security forces, it caused even more people to rebel. By July of 2011, the number of protesters grew to hundreds of thousands. Violent rebel groups were formed to fight against the military. The violent rebel groups, and the government are still fighting today, however it is an official civil war now.

©www.bbc.co.uk

The violence has escalated causing Syrians to flee for safety. Many countries have been welcoming refugees, and camps have been set up in the neighbouring countries. Due to the high number of refugees, some countries have unfortunately closed their borders. Some countries, including Russia have devised plans to help end the war, unfortunately most plans include negotiation, and applying pressure to the Syrian Government, which has not worked in the past.

Russia has recently moved in with soldiers, armored vehicles, and other military equipment. It is believed that their naval forces are trying to regain control of the Mediterranean Sea(the refugees are currently using the sea to flee Syria). However, there are speculations as to Russia’s true motives behind bringing all this military force into Syria.

As a group, we think that other countries should be more involved with keeping the peace in the country itself to allow Syrian refugees to be able to return home and have a safer quality of life post-war. We believe that Russia’s intentions are less than honourable and more focused on having control of the Mediterranean for the benefit of their own Naval forces, instead of focusing on solving the issues within Syria. We recognize that this civil war has been going on for 4 years now and we don’t think it’ll end any time soon due to lack of efforts from countries known for peacekeeping (i.e Canadian PeaceKeepers in Iraq).