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The Syrian Refugee
crises
by Prabhjot Kaur
Over the years, Syria has become synonymous
with war, terror and agony, in contrast to what it
was a few years ago-a country of fertile plains,
high mountains deserts and valleys.
Syria is a country in western Asia. And it
shares it borders with Lebanon and Mediterranean
Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq
to the east, and Jordan to the south and Israel
somewhere to the southwest. It is passably diverse
ethnically and religiously and is a home
to various groups although; Syrian Arabs make
up the largest majority. The religious groups
include-Sunnis, Christians, Yazidis, Alawites,
Druze, Shiites, and Salafis. Damascus is one of
the oldest cities in the world, apart from being
the capital of Syria.
Syria has been enmeshed in an uprising against
Bashar-al-Assad and the Ba’athist Govt as part
of the Arab Spring. What is Arab Spring you
ask? ‘’Arab Spring was a revolutionary phase of
demonstrative protests both violent and non-violent,
civil wars and riots in the Arab world. It
all started somewhere around 18th Dec 2010
in Tunisia and its revolution. It later spread
to countries of the Arab League. The protests
somewhat faded in mid-2012.’’ In March,
2011 a southern city of Deraa saw pro-democratic
protests after the arrests and torture of
some teens who painted revolutionary slogans
on a school wall. The protests turned violent
after security forces open fired. This caused a
nationwide rage and people demanded for the
resignation of President Bashar-al-Assad. The
situation became even more violent and people
took arms in the latter part of 2011. The
uprising and the escalated violence contributed
to the Syrian Civil War. Rebel groups were
formed to battle against the government forces,
for control over cities and towns. This eventually
spread throughout the nation. The division
between, the secular, the Islamist fighters, religious
and ethnic groups have complicated the
matters further.
According to UN activists and the UN, nearly
90k people have been killed in the conflict.
And by August 2015 the numbers have climbed
to 250,000. The bombings and airstrikes have
killed many ,and destroyed the cities. Most of
the population is internally displaced.
The vacuum that had been created due to conflicts
has given rise to jihadist groups, like
ISIS and it has added another dimension to the
scenario. The rises of the Islamic State and its
callous acts have caused a global uproar. Beheading
foreigners, throwing people off forts
because of sexual preferences, training kids
to behead and torture, destroying historical
sites and museums, these acts are nothing but
barbaric and benighted. Mid-2015 saw some
countries launching airstrikes at ISIS locations
in and around Syria. And that resulted in more
and more civilians getting trapped and killed.
The delivery of humanitarian aid became more
parlous in these regions.
The war zones often see misuse of power and
vulnerability of the people. Horrendous war
crimes have taken place, from young girls and
boys being abducted and pushed into prostitution
and slavery, to murder, rape, torture and
disappearances. Stories of young girls used as
sex slaves and little kids being trained to become
suicide bombers have been all over the
internet and the news channels. Such incidents
scar the lives of the people and leave them shattered.
Getting back to the normal way of life
seems next to impossible for them.
And at present it is the least peaceful countries
of the world.
The Syrian civil war has been a very traumatic
episode for many. The apocalyptic war has left
many homeless, jobless, orphan and without
basic necessities. It is truly heart wrenching.
It all started with peaceful anti-government
protests but it slowly developed into a violent
armed conflict which has lasted for almost 5
years now. Out off which nearly 4 million people
have found refugee in countries like Turkey,
Lebanon, Jordan Iran and Egypt. And some
have taken the dangerous route to Europe. But
after the Paris attacks, many European countries
have closed their borders. The civil war
has robbed people of their basic human rights.
The living conditions are unimaginable. Extra
effort needs to be put for the displaced. And for
that-the UN and a few other NGOs have set up
camps to help out refugees. They provide them
with basic necessities and counseling.
The UN says “it will need $3.2Bn to help the
13.5million people, including 6 million children
who will require some form of humanitarian
assistance inside Syria. About 70% do
not have access to clean drinking water, and 1
in 3 people are unable to meet their basic food
needs and more than 2million kids are out of
Global warming and climatic
school and most live in poverty.’’
There are many NGOs who have
offered help.
Apart from UNHCR(United Nations
High Commissioner for
Refugees) there are various organizations
working like-
1) Project Amal ou Salam founded
in 2013 works to empower Syrian
children through education.
2) The White Helmets aka Syrian
Civil Defense this organization is
the first to reach or rescue
3) CARE helps refugees in Balkans.
There are 12 million people who are displaced
out of which nearly 6 million are children.
4) Hand in Hand for Syria brings emergency
aid to people living under worst conditions and
trying to survive.
5) Karam Foundation in Chicago founded in
2007. KKaram started the school along the
border called Zeitouna also supplying food and
other necessary items they even support other
organizations like White Helmets.
6) Watanili works through grass roots initiatives
including art therapy and creative work
shops countering the effects of trauma.
7) Mercy Corps is an international development
organization that helps people around the
world survive and thrive after conflict, crisis
and natural disaster.
8) Khalsa Aid- Khalsa Aid is primarily a humanitarian
relief agency, based on the teachings
of the Sikh Guru who preached well being
of all humanity. They have provided the refugees
with fresh food, school books, school furniture,
clothes, water and blankets. “Recognize
all human race as one” –Guru Gobind SinghJi,
is their motto.
There seems to be a lot of apathy. And ,we as
fellow beings in this world need to come together
to fight the flagitious who have maligned
our society.
issues at hand
By Simran
the US in total greenhouse emissions between
The global warming controversy concerns the late 2007 and 2010 and this occurred in 2006
public debate over whether global warming is only. The only major developed nation which
occurring, how much has occurred in modern has signed but not ratified the Kyoto protocol
times, what has caused it, what its effects will is US. The countries with no official position
be, whether any action should be taken to curb on Kyoto are mainly African countries with underdeveloped
scientific infrastructure or are oil
it, and if so what that action should be. In the
scientific literature, there is a strong consensus producers.
that global surface temperatures have increased Others argue that if developing nations reach
in recent decades and that the trend is caused by the wealth levels of the United States this could
human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. greatly increase CO2 emissions and consumption
of fossil fuels. Large developing nations
Political and popular debate concerning the existence
and cause of climate change includes such as India and China are predicted to be major
emitters of greenhouse gases in the next few
the reasons for the increase seen in the instrumental
temperature record, whether the warming
trend exceeds normal climatic variations, In 2015 COP21, also known as the 2015 Paris
decades as their economies grow.
and whether human activities have contributed Climate Conference, for the first time in over
significantly to it.
20 years of UN negotiations, aim to achieve a
Scientists have resolved many of these questions
decisively in favor of the view that the mate, with the aim of keeping global warming
legally binding and universal agreement on cli-
current warming trend exists and is ongoing, below 2°C. France played a leading international
role in hosting the seminal conference,
that human activity is the primary cause.
The Kyoto protocol is the most prominent international
agreement on climate change, and conferences ever held in the country. The con-
and COP21 was one of the largest international
is also highly controversial. Some argue that it ference was expected to attract close to 50,000
goes too far or not nearly far enough in restricting
emissions of greenhouse gases. Another from government, intergovernmental organiza-
participants including 25,000 official delegates
area of controversy is the fact that China and tions, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.
India, the world’s two most populous countries, Its main objective was that of producing goods
both ratified the protocol but are not required and services while limiting consumption and
to reduce or even limit the growth of carbon waste of raw materials, water and energy sources.
The French government set itself the objec-
emissions under the present agreement. Nevertheless,
China is the world’s second largest producer
of greenhouse gas emissions, and India work for participants, while being exemplary
tive of ensuring maximum quality of life and
4th. Various predictions saw China overtaking in terms of sustainable development, by reusing,
recycling and by using as little energy as
possible. And in order to offset the emissions
that cannot be reduced at source and to make
COP21 a “carbon neutral” event,
France financed one or several projects to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions for an equivalent
The 3 R’s of COP21
– Reduce (consumption of resources)
– Reuse (products)
– Recycle (waste)
“R” for reducing consumption of resources for
an intelligent response to energy needs through:
A NEW HIGH PERFORMANCE GAS BOIL-
ER (20% LESS CO2)
PROVISION OF 50 WATER FOUNTAINS
AND 36,000 FLASKS TO ELIMINATE 2
MILLION
PLASTIC CUPS and more
> “R” for Reuse
RENTAL AND SECOND LIFE FOR ALL
PRODUCTS
25,000 WELCOME BAGS MADE FROM
RECYCLED FIBRES
> “R” for Recycle
100% OF THE PAPER USED IS RECYCLED
ZERO WASTE
SPECIAL CONTAINERS FOR RECYCLING
PAPER and more
For the first time ever, a State and UN Climate
Conference was ISO 20121 certified. The certification,
which is attested by Bureau VERITAS,
was a first for an event of this magnitude. The
ISO standard therefore meets the objectives
that France has set itself and guide the sustainable
development policy of COP21.
When we talk about climate change we find that
there is a big gap between what scientists say
and what people think, especially Americans.
This comes from a public opinion poll released
on 29th Jan, 2016 by Pew Research Center and
the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS). The poll captured a significant
split between what scientists and the general
public believe on climate change. In 2014,
the vast majority (87 %) of scientists said that
human activity is driving global warming, and
yet only half the American public ascribed to
that view. And 77% of scientists said climate
change is a very serious problem. In comparison,
only 33% of the general public said it was
a very serious problem in a 2013 poll.
When the pollsters questioned people differently,
asking whether there is solid evidence the
Earth is getting warmer, 72% of people said it
was, up from 57% in 2009. Only 25% said the
Earth is not getting warmer, up from 11% in
2009.Only 3 percent of people were still undecided,
which means most people have made
up their minds already on the climate. Of the
people who agreed the Earth is warming, about
half (46%) said it is caused by human activity.
The increased belief in climate change was reflected
last week in the Senate, when 98 senators
from both parties voted that climate change
is real and not a hoax. Only one, Sen. Roger
Wicker (R-Miss.), voted otherwise. Going on
the record on their beliefs was a historic step
for Republicans who have otherwise insisted
that “they are not scientists” when questioned
on climate change.
But about half the senators still maintained that
climate change is not driven by human activity.