The Syrian conflict seems at times to be an unending procession of depressing statistics, the regular roll-out of which belies the human tragedy each one represents. The latest figure to emerge is that the death toll has reached 150,000, of whom one third are civilians. And that was just one of a selection of similarly grim statistics, such as the 500,000 who have been injured, many of whom have lost limbs, the high rate of malnutrition in the civilian population, and outbreaks of devastating but preventable diseases like polio, all of which will affect Syria long into the future.
This is made grimmer still by the intractable nature of the conflict which, following the failure of the Geneva II talks, seems destined to be a long and bloody stalemate until a military resolution plays out. All this shows that the civil war will continue to have an impact on the country for years after hostilities eventually end.
The UAE and other neighbouring countries have made a humanitarian commitment to help alleviate the suffering of the millions of Syrians who have been displaced, internally and externally. But their role continues to be one akin to the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, picking up the pieces after the damage is done but unable to do much about preventing it in the first place.
As The National reported yesterday, the UAE has released another US$60 million (Dh220m) in aid to Syrians and Palestinians who have become victims of the civil war. Most of it is being used to provide shelter, food, health care and sanitation to those who are internally displaced.
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation, said the real challenge was getting the aid to those who need it within Syria. It is no secret that starvation has been used as a weapon of war by the Assad regime, targeting areas where the rebel forces have received support from many of the local population.
This raises the prospect of what else the UAE can do, such as leveraging its soft power skills with nations, like Russia, that support the regime. By raising this at a diplomatic level, using the UAE’s role as a player motivated by alleviating the suffering of innocents, food and other forms of aid might flow more easily into Syria. The UAE and its partners will still have to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, but it would help to know that some damage could be averted rather than just mitigated.
