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Why people are fleeing Syria: a brief, simple explanation

Why people are fleeing Syria: a brief, simple explanation
With the refugee crisis worsening as many Syrians attempt to flee to Europe, many people may find themselves wondering just how the war in that country got so bad, and why so many are fleeing now. Here, then, is a very brief history of the war, written so that anyone can understand it: Syria is a relatively new country: Its borders were constructed by European powers in the 1920s, mashing together several ethnic and religious groups. Since late 1970, a family from one of those smaller groups — the Assads, who are Shia Alawites — have ruled the country in a brutal dictatorship. Bashar al-Assad has been in power since 2000. This regime appeared stable, but when Arab Spring protests began in 2011, it turned out not to be. On March 18, Syrian security forces opened fire on peaceful protestors in the southern city of Deraa, killing three. Perhaps inevitably, Syrians took up arms to defend themselves. It worked. By 2014, Syria was divided between government, rebel, ISIS, and Kurdish forces. Related:  On the Run - refugeesRefugees

The Best Sites For Learning About World Refugee Day Source: blogs.smithsonianmag.comWhere Are the 50 Most Populous Refugee Camps? is an interactive map from Smithsonian Magazine.A Refugee Camp On The Web is an interactive from Doctors Without Borders. Syrian Refugees Struggle at Zaatari Camp is an interactive from The New York Times. Two years on – Syria’s refugee crisis is an interactive from alJazeera. World Refugee Day 2013 is a photo gallery from The Boston Globe. The Guardian has published an excellent infographic titled What happened to history’s refugees? It charts some of the largest “human movements” in history, starting at 740 BC and ending at . Every registered refugee since 1960: interactive map is from The Guardian. Ten Largest Refugee Camps is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal. The Historic Scale of Syria’s Refugee Crisis is an impressive interactive from The New York Times. The refugee challenge: can you break into Fortress Europe? Where would 8.8 million displaced Syrians fit? Tap to Expand Customize size Click to copy

Two Billion Miles [interactive] Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry Syria crisis: Scars of war • World Vision Magazine A plastic bag flutters in the desert wind brushing a desolate Jordan landscape. A Syrian refugee boy grasps a string that not only keeps the bag from flying away but also provides a tenuous grip on his fading childhood. For Syrian refugee children, kite flying keeps aloft memories of family, friends, and their once-promising future. The children salvage remnants of their war-shattered lives, even if it’s just with a dirty plastic bag that can barely stand up to the breeze. Now in its fifth year, fighting in Syria has unleashed one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history, uprooting half of the nation’s population. Subscribe Thanks for reading World Vision magazine. Already a subscriber? The United Nations Children’s Fund cited 2014 as one of the worst years on record for children, prompting executive director Anthony Lake to declare: “Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality.” — Wynn Flaten War’s lasting affects “I loved school.

En värld i rörelse Varje dag lämnar människor sina hemländer i jakten på ett bättre liv. I temat En värld i rörelse får eleverna fördjupa sina kunskaper om vem som lämnar sitt hemland och varför. Men också om hur vi i den rika delen av världen bemöter dem. Materialet ger ett internationellt, historiskt och etiskt perspektiv på ämnet. Den utförliga elevtexten, tillsammans med övningar och fördjupningsuppgifter ger goda möjligheter till en varierad undervisning som kan öka elevernas kunskaper om flyktingar och migranters villkor. Innehåll: Materialet är anpassat efter ämnesplanerna i samhällskunskap, svenska och historia.

You can't cure a disease by medicating its symptoms – same goes for the refugee crisis Last updated: September 3, 2015 You can't cure a disease by medicating its symptoms – same goes for the refugee crisis Södertälje, Sweden, early this morning; it’s dark, cold, and rainy. We are standing outside an office, drinking coffee. Two of us are smokers, which is why we are outdoors. He suddenly stops, right next to us. We answer him, almost simultaneously, that he is in the right place. He looks relieved, relaxes his posture a bit, but then falters. While we wait for the cousin to arrive he tells us about the escape from Syria, about the fear of the Syrian regime and the fundamentalists. The worst bit is the escape routes, he explains, traveling in trucks packed with refugees and on sinking boats. For us, people living in Södertälje, these stories and human fates are something of a routine. The world is in chaos. The man we met that morning asks us: “Why are they not stopping this war, why are they not fighting the evil growing powerful in Iraq and Syria?

The Refugee Project Every day, all over the world, ordinary people must flee their homes for fear of death or persecution. Many leave without notice, taking only what they can carry. Many will never return. They cross oceans and minefields, they risk their lives and their futures. The Refugee Project looks beyond the crises that are currently making headlines and allows viewers to explore all refugee migrations around the world since 1975. About the Data Under international law, the United Nations is responsible for protecting asylum seekers around the world. The Refugee Project does not consider the large number of economic migrants and other undocumented populations, nor does it show the millions of internally displaced persons in troubled countries around the world. Recognition The Refugee Project was selected for MoMA’s Design and Violence exhibition, where it was written about by the UNHCR’s High Comissioner, António Guterres. Compare refugee population visually by country

Market Red Alert I have never done anything like this before. Ever since I started The Economic Collapse Blog in late 2009, I have never issued any kind of “red alert” for any specific period of time. As an attorney, I was trained to be level-headed and to only come to conclusions that were warranted by the evidence. So this is not something that I am doing lightly. To clarify, when I say “imminent” I do not mean that it will happen within the next 48 hours. What I am attempting to communicate is that we are right at the door of a major turning point. This time around, I wish that I could visit the living rooms of all of my readers and explain to them why we are on the verge of another major financial crisis. Let’s start with a little discussion about the U.S. economy. Let me give you just one quick example. This is the kind of chart that you would expect from a very sick economy. If the stock market was connected to reality, it would be going down. For instance, just check out the chart posted below.

France Vows To Take In 30,000 Syrian Refugees, Makes Republicans Look Like Cowards « It has long been said that the true definition of courage isn’t the absence of fear, but rather the ability to take action in the face of fear. In the wake of a horrific terror attack in the heart of Paris, France’s actions are about as courageous as could ever be asked of its people. Despite the fear-mongering and the pressure from right-wing elements in both France and the United States, France’s president Francois Hollande renewed his vow to take in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees and urged Parisians not to allow a few terrorists to stop them from living their lives to the fullest. “30,000 refugees will be welcomed over the next two years. The French people have been remarkably brave throughout the harrowing ordeal. It’s the right-wing elements in America, thousands of miles away, that have truly succumbed to the fear. All of this was done directly in the face of the evidence emerging from the Paris investigation. Feature image via Martin Schultz/Flickr

Vad skulle du ta med dig om du skulle fly? 6 flyktingar öppnar sina resväskor | Emanuels randanmärkningar Vad skulle du ta med dig om du skulle fly från ditt hem och resa över mörka hav och på svår terräng? Vad skulle du kasta först under resans gång? Det här är berättelsen om sex familjer, kvinnor, män, tonåringar – människor – som lämnat allt, förlorat allt och letar en ny trygghet. Genom att öppna sina resväskor berättar de historier om förtvivlan och om strimmor av hopp om en annan framtid. Den här texten är tidigare publicerad av organisationen The International Rescue Committee på engelska. Jag har med tillstånd fått översätta och återpublicera den här. Vad skulle du ta med dig? “Du kommer känna att du är mänsklig. En mamma Namn: Aboessa*Ålder: 20Från: Damaskus, Syrien När hårda strider bröt ut i Yarmouk, ett inofficiellt läger för palestinier strax utanför den Syriska huvudstaden, lyckades Aboessa fly med sin make och deras tio månader gamla dotter, Doua. Olika mediciner, en flaska steriliserat vatten och en burk bebismat. “Allt är till min dotter så jag kan skydda henne från sjukdomar.

Refugees welcome | Playlist Now playing Today's refugee crisis is the biggest since World War II, and it's growing. When this talk was given, 50 million people had been forcefully displaced from their homes by conflict and war; now, a year later, the number is 60 million. There were 3 million Syrian refugees in 2014; now there are 4 million. Inside this overwhelming crisis are the individual human stories — of care, growth and family, in the face of lost education, lost home, lost future.

Ten things you didn’t know about refugees With 45.2 million displaced by violence, persecution or rights abuses, the number of refugees is higher than at any time since 1994, says UNHCR Today is World Refugee Day - and the latest statistics from the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) show world refugee numbers are higher than at any time since 1994. As U.N. refugee chief Antonio Gutteres put it at a recent news conference: “Each time you blink, another person is forced to flee.” UNHCR’s annual report shows that some 45.2 million people were uprooted by violence, persecution or rights abuses as of the end of last year, but the numbers also challenge some common misconceptions about refugees and displacement. Here are 10 things you may not have known. 1. Until you do, you’re just a person who’s been uprooted within your own country - or an internally displaced person (IDP), to use the aid world jargon. The difference matters because it’s only by crossing a border that you gain the protection of international laws and conventions. 2. 3. 4.

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