Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Syria Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on May 15, 2018, and transitioned some of our coverage to Peacebuilding Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Syrian conflict. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
Exploring displacement in Syria through the lens of forced evacuations, demographic shifts and the humanitarian response to the crisis.
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The Norwegian Refugee Council’s Jan Egeland explains that without consistent education, Syrian refugee children risk becoming part of the lost generations – a phrase they have come to loathe.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
After the United Nations lavishly highlighted its achievements during the World Humanitarian Summit, Syrian NGOs have expressed their dismay that the gathering failed to help develop sustainable solutions to the crisis.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
Christine Mahoney Director, Social Entrepreneurship Department of the University of Virginia
Professor Christine Mahoney, author of “Failure and Hope: Fighting for the Rights of the Forcibly Displaced,” argues from the World Humanitarian Summit that traditional political advocacy is of limited value in improving the lives of refugees and IDPs.
As Istanbul gears up to host the inaugural World Humanitarian Summit, Turkish support for Syrians – including its policy of granting access to education to Syrian children officially registered as refugees – will be in the spotlight.
This week’s WHS promises wide-ranging consultations and a break with convention in order to find solutions fast, but with some high-profile absences – from MSF to Syria and the Saudis – just effective how can it be?
Jeff Crisp Formerly Head of Policy Development and Evaluation, UNHCR
Jeff Crisp of the Oxford Refugee Studies Center examines the Humanitarian Summit’s key premises – a ‘grand bargain’ to bridge the gap between need and funding, and a ‘global compact’ to revive the belief that refugees are an international responsibility.
Solon Ardittis Director, Eurasylum
Adopting a viable “strategic agenda” on managing migration flows at the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul could serve as a dry run for the U.N. meeting on refugees in September, says Solon Ardittis, director of Eurasylum.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
Paul Currion Consultant
Any success at the World Humanitarian Summit will require participants to admit that international refugee law is in crisis and to embark on reform of current humanitarian systems, says humanitarian operations expert Paul Currion.
As ISIS swept over large swathes of the eastern province, former FSA fighter Abu Khadija pledged his allegiance, believing the extremists were his best bet to topple the Assad government. Now, after escaping, he wishes he could take it all back.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
Victims, witnesses and locals interviewed by Human Rights Watch say that in spring 2016, Turkish border guards used violence against Syrian asylum seekers and smugglers, killing five people, including a child, and seriously injuring 14 others.
Sarine Karajerjian Admin and Finance Manager, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs
Known as “Little Armenia,” Bourj Hammoud has been a refuge for displaced people since Armenians fled Ottoman massacres nearly a century ago. Sarine Karajerjian of the Issam Fares Institute explains why residents are now making room for refugees fleeing war in Syria.
Conor Kenny Physician, Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) doctor Conor Kenny writes from Idomeni, Greece, where more than 10,000 refugees are trapped at the border with Macedonia.
Following refugee families and an aid worker fighting to keep the camp running, a new film produced by two young filmmakers and backed by Daily Show star Jon Stewart allows viewers to experience what it is like to live in Zaatari, the largest camp for Syrian refugees.
Damascene director and actress Nalia al-Atrash talks about the challenges of dissidence and censorship under Assad, the changing role of theater throughout the Syrian conflict, and coming to terms with a life in exile.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is settling into her new life and preparing to become a mother.
“Why is war coming after us?” asked one 13-year-old Syrian boy now living in the Turkish border city of Kilis. Having fled to Turkey in search of safety, many Syrian refugees are not yet out of ISIS’s reach.
Independent journalists and volunteer activists have launched an online hunt to track down and expose former militiamen accused of committing crimes during Syria’s war as they head to Europe to seek asylum.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
Journalist Rahaf Haboub grew up in Daraya, a Damascus suburb besieged by pro-government forces for more than three years. She and her family fled in fall 2012 after the government targeted the area with airstrikes and barrel bombs – these are her recollections of those harrowing times.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria and is now in Switzerland, where she’s dealing with a new marriage, her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
Mariam Barghouti Writes Political Op-eds
The mainstream Palestinian stance on the Syrian war is hypocritical, writes journalist Mariam Barghouti. By choosing political pragmatism over the right to self-determination – a right central to the Palestinian cause – Palestinians are asking Syrians to do what they have refused for more than 60 years.
As battles rage between ISIS and al-Nusra Front in Yarmouk refugee camp, civilians are being caught in the line of fire. With supplies in the camp running low, activists now fear a humanitarian crisis and have launched a social media campaign calling for a temporary cease-fire.
As part of our ongoing series “Childhood Under Attack,” this week we present the story of a Syrian boy struggling to find a new home after Islamic State members brutally sawed off two of his limbs and he and his family were forced to flee.
Following the plan by the EU and Turkey to turn back refugees, many are looking for alternative ways to reach Europe. Syria Deeply explores a new path to the continent that starts on the other side of the Atlantic – in South America.
The series #5YearsWeFled is a collection of interviews with Syrian lawyer Ayman Jalwan. It highlights the difficult choice that Syrians face – between dying in a war zone that the country has become after five years or conflict, or fleeing the land they love with no hope of imminent return.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she describes her life in a new country.
Khairunissa Dhala Researcher, Amnesty International
The world must stop failing Syria’s refugees, writes Amnesty International’s head researcher on refugee and migrant rights in the lead up to the United Nations Refugee Agency’s March 30 conference centered on sharing responsibility for the refugee crisis globally.
Who is behind the smuggling of refugees from Turkey to the Greek islands? How are these potentially deadly trips planned and organized? In the second installment of an ongoing investigation into dangerous routes to safety, Syria Deeply speaks with a people smuggler in Izmir.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she describes her life in a new country.
Hundreds of Syrian Kurdish refugees celebrated the holiday of Nowruz, marking the beginning of the Persian New Year, along Greece’s border with Macedonia. They have been stuck in Idomeni along with around 10,000 other migrants after Macedonian authorities sealed the border earlier this month.
The series #5YearsWeFled is a collection of interviews with a Syrian lawyer Ayman Jalwan. It highlights the difficult choice that Syrians face – between dying in a war zone that the country has become after five years or conflict, or fleeing the land they love with no hopes of imminent return.
The dangerous sea and land crossings that Syrian refugees are making to Europe have been well-documented, but less well known are the equally perilous journeys people take to leave Syria itself. In this first installment of a two-part series, Syria Deeply examines the illegal journey from Damascus to Turkey.
The series #5YearsWeFled is a collection of interviews with a Syrian lawyer Ayman Jalwan. It highlights the difficult choice that Syrians face – between dying in a war zone that the country has become after five years of conflict, or fleeing the land they love with no hopes of imminent return.
The series #5YearsWeFled is a collection of interviews with a Syrian lawyer Ayman Jalwan. It highlights the difficult choice that Syrians face – between dying in a war zone that the country has become after five years of conflict, or fleeing the land they love with no hopes of imminent return.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she describes her life in a new country.
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