The cold wave that recently hit the Middle East raised various concerns about the humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees in the region. Though aid flowed in from around the Arab world, the Syrian crisis is far from at an end and coalition raids on ISIL continue.
In the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, Houssam Itani wrote that “when Hafez Al Assad destroyed the city of Hama thirty-three years ago, killing its people and causing their exodus, this was considered the high-handed way that Arabs deal with internal problems”.
He remarked that “Bashar Al Assad and his forces have revived this “system” at the beginning of the Revolution in March 2011. No obstacle stood before him as he spread and transferred his experience beyond the border of Hama, to cover the whole Syrian territory”.
“Destroying Homs and Aleppo was followed by massacres that have become difficult to account for, creating dreadful methods for the extermination of civilians hundreds of thousands of detainees were kept in inhumane conditions and died as a result of torture. This is but an updated version of the Hama regime, or shall we say a ‘Hama 2.0’, an upgraded update,” he opined.
During an interview last week, Bashar Al Assad said he had no intention of ceding power to anyone, that there is no solution to war in Syria and that he would either crush his opponents or be crushed by them, added Itani. “This is what the “Hama system upgrade leads to,” he concluded.
The Dubai-based Al Bayan editorialised that “the Syrian refugees are living in a difficult situation both inside and outside Syrian territory. The cold winter has added new numbers to the list of victims”. The paper explained: “The United Nations sounded the alarm, announcing that it had experienced difficulties in delivering assistance to about half the civilians that needed it, in view of the hazardous circumstances on the field, particularly in the Syrian provinces of Deir Al Zor and Raqqa, both controlled by ISIL, and in other villages surrounded by the forces of the regime and that of the opposition. They [the UN] also face significant shortfalls in funding”. It said that as the war in Syria enters its fifth year, it becomes difficult to reach the millions who are in dire need of assistance. “The international organisation needs 2.9 billion dollars this year to finance its operations, particularly as it received less than half the amount it requested last year, leaving hundreds of thousands of refugees deprived of the basics they needed to cope with difficult living conditions”.
In the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat, Fayez Sara said that Syrian refugees in Lebanon were probably unlikely to return to their country “in the present circumstances”.
He added: “Their only option is to stay where they are to stay where they are, because some of them reside in areas that may become battlefields if war breaks out.” He added: “If war were to break out, they would be at the heart of the disaster, as Lebanon is powerless to do anything to help them and so are the other countries and international organisations involved in relief efforts”.
Sara concluded that “this requires action at all levels”.
* Translated by Carla Mirza
cmirza@thenational.ae
