Challenges push displaced Syrians to the brink

Cypriot police have arrested five Syrians suspected of operating a people smuggling operation which brings to the island Syrian migrants and asylum seekers from Lebanon and Syria. Another four Syrians are wanted by the Cypriot authorities. Scores of Syrians, mainly young men, arrive on the island weekly in small boats. Of the 21,745 asylum seekers who came to Cyprus during 2022, most came from Syria, Nigeria and the Congo. Since unrest erupted in Syria in 2011, more than 12,000 Syrians have sought refuge in the Cypriot republic of whom 8,500 have been granted international protection while the remaining Syrians have been recognised as refugees. Overall, some 13,000 asylum seekers now reside in the Cyprus republic, which has a population of nearly one million. This is the largest number of migrants per capita in the European Union.

Meanwhile, last week the Lebanese army arrested and deported 700 Syrians seeking to enter that country illegally. Lebanon hosts 900,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees and another half a million Syrians reside in the country. Syrians not only face persecution and deportation in Lebanon but also kidnapping and death when they board traffickers’ frail boats and rafts bound for European ports.

A week ago, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Syrian refugees in the kingdom should voluntarily return home as soon as it is safe for them to do so. “The future of the Syrian refugees is in their country and not in Jordan,” he stated. There are 670,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees living in Jordan as well as several hundred thousand Syrian residents. Jordanians have become resentful over the Syrian presence. This has been exacerbated by the shortfall in donations received by the World Food Programme (WFP) due to huge Western powers’ investment in the Ukraine war. The WFP has been forced to cut cash grants for 120,000 Syrians living in two Jordanian camps. The programme had originally benefitted 465,000 refugees.

Cyprus, Lebanon, and Jordan were ready to provide a refuge for Syrians fleeing the civil and proxy war which gripped their country from 2011 until 2019 but these countries have become increasingly unwilling to accept their continuing presence and the post-war influx of Syrian economic migrants.

Syria seemed to have reached a turning point in August-September 2019. This was made manifest by the Damascus International Fair which attracted delegations from Sharjah, Oman, China, Cuba, Russia and other countries. The fair had a spectacular son-et-lumiere launch, featured scores of displays, and drew thousands of Syrians to the grounds on the edge of Damascus. The fair generated hope that Syria was on the road to recovery. This was a false hope. Having survived the armed conflict at great cost, the government was beset by punitive sanctions which have prevented Syrian expatriates and foreign individuals, firms and governments from investing in reconstruction.

The most important of these impositions was the US Caesar Act, ironically called the “Civilian Syrian Protection Act,” which was signed into law by Donald Trump in June 2019 and came into force on June 17th, 2020. Touting this act as a means of protecting Syrian civilians is monstrous as it has severely impacted Syria’s recovery by effectively preventing the country from accessing global financial networks and blocking reconstruction.

The act launched a “maximum pressure campaign” which was designed to undermine the government and force its allies, Russia and Iran, to abandon Damascus. The measure has in fact compelled the government to reject compromises and strengthened the determination of Moscow and Tehran to stand firm despite US and international sanctions on these countries. The Ukraine war has focused the West on Europe rather than this troubled region.

Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq have been negatively impacted by Syria’s distress. With the aim of halting economic decline, the Arabs have restored relations with Syria but have been prevented by Caesar sanctions from investing in existential reconstruction in Syria and engaging in trade with Syria.

Following Arab normalisation with Syria in May, US Syria expert Joshua Landis told Washington-based Al-Monitor website, “People were expecting things would get better.” Instead, he added, “It’s a perfect storm. Things are much worse.” For as long as Syria remains subjected to Caesar sanctions, Syrians will suffer, whether they live at home or as refugees in neighbouring countries.

Many will flee, swelling the growing ranks of the 35.3 million refugees already driven from their homelands by war and want. The Syrian government has been forced to lift subsidies on fuel while doubling salaries of civil servants to try to compensate them from this blow. This coincided with the rapid devaluation of the Syrian currency. Today 14,000 Syrian Liras equal a US dollar; in April the Lira traded at 7,500 to the dollar.

Protests erupted in Druze-majority Sueda and restive Deraa which led to cautious demonstrations in the north and east. Protests cannot solve anything. Syria needs a Marshall plan to preserve the country and enable all its citizens to live without hunger and in dignity at home. As long as the Caesar law remains in force millions of Syrians will be its victims. “The Syrian people deserve our full support,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, stated. “They deserve peace and security and justice.” Indeed, they do but the US offers no “peace and security and justice” to the hard-pressed Syrian people. Only punishment. Europe meekly bows to the US diktat.

The exodus of Syrians from their sanctions-ridden country has not reached the mass level of 2014-2015 when millions fled the war but their numbers can be expected to grow as 90 per cent of the population is now below the poverty line. Poverty, drought, and heat waves caused by climate change have also spurred the current outflow and driven Syrians to take to the streets to protest their perilous situation.