* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Humanitarian help is vital in mitigating the suffering of Syrian refugees, but it will never be a solution - political action is urgently required
I first visited Syria as High Commissioner in early 2007, in the wake of the enormous refugee outflow from Iraq at the time. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had sought safety in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and Hama. Although their lives were difficult, what mattered to them was the sincere hospitality with which Syria had welcomed them, just as it had hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees decades earlier.
In subsequent visits, I was again touched by the profound and strong solidarity of Syrian society with those uprooted by conflict and persecution. For more than two years now, it has been wrenching to watch this hospitable and warm-hearted nation being torn apart by violence, and an ever-growing number of Syrians forced to become refugees themselves in neighbouring countries.
This week the number of registered Syrian refugees in the region will pass 1.4 million. The number has been growing fast in recent months, from 3,000 people fleeing every day in December, to as many as 8,000 a day now.
Including people who are internally displaced, a quarter of the entire population of the country has been forced to leave their homes. Half the 500,000 Palestinian refugees who had been living in Syria have been displaced.
The figures are distressing enough, but they can never fully convey the horrendous suffering of a people, the progressive collapse of a state, and the physical destruction of a country. No end is in sight to Syria’s conflict, and the humanitarian impact looks more and more terrifying. If nothing changes, there may be up to 3.5 million Syrian refugees by the end of 2013, and one in two Syrians will likely be dependent on humanitarian assistance. And this is a country that was, just a few years ago, an industrial powerhouse, the breadbasket of an entire region.
NEIGHBOURS UNDER PRESSURE
In the meantime, the massive refugee exodus is shaking neighbouring countries, especially Lebanon and Jordan. Both need urgent international support. By some estimates Syrians now make up nearly a quarter of the current population of Lebanon, which is struggling to maintain its delicate social and political balance. Refugees are scattered across nearly 1,200 different towns and villages, and some Lebanese families host more than 25 Syrians under their roofs. Security incidents along the Syrian border pose a serious challenge to the stability of this tiny and fragile country.
Jordan is also coming under tremendous pressure. Completely dependent on energy imports, and with water scarcity becoming a major problem, the Jordanian economy was struggling already before 2011. But as in Lebanon, the Syria crisis has caused a significant drop in Jordan’s revenues from trade, tourism and foreign investment, compounded by the very large influx of Syrian refugees. Jordan now faces unsustainable levels of public and external deficits, and is being asked to apply tough austerity measures. There is a growing risk of social unrest.
For these reasons, and for the sake of the millions already affected, the fighting must stop. Peace must be made to prevail, as difficult as that might seem right now. Humanitarian agencies like mine are already wondering whether there will be any way to adequately respond to the needs – even if all the funding we need were to be made available, which is far from being the case.
And the international community must do much more to support Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and the other countries that are providing sanctuary to so many fleeing the fighting in Syria. This is not a question of generosity, but one of enlightened self-interest. By taking in thousands of new refugees every day, the countries on the frontline of this crisis are doing the world an extraordinary service. Preserving their economic and social stability is in everyone’s essential interest.
The risk of this conflict spilling over across the region is well-known. Together with the challenges posed by other lingering crises nearby, what is happening in Syria today risks escalating very quickly into a regional disaster that could overwhelm the international response capacity – political, security-related and humanitarian. This must not be allowed to happen.
For decades the Syrians have sheltered victims of conflict and displacement in this fragile region. Now, the longer it takes for a political solution and an end to the bloodshed, the more deeply the Syrian people are being abandoned in their hour of need.
Humanitarian help is vital in mitigating their suffering, but it will never be a solution. It is at the political level that action is now so urgently required.
