THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS

A special focus needs to be given to the humanitarian crisis regarding the refugees who were forced to leave behind everything that their lives stood for. More than 465,000 Syrians have been killed in the fighting, over a million injured, and over 12 million - half the country's prewar population - have been displaced.

2010 — Syria is a modern society built on the cradle of civilization.

• Syria’s rich cultural history dates back more than 8,000 years.
• It is an economically fast-growing lower-middle-income country, according to the World Bank. Agriculture, industry, tourism, and oil are economic mainstays. Healthcare and primary and secondary education are free.
• President Bashar al Assad succeeds his father as ruler.

2011 — The Syrian civil war begins.

• Peaceful protests in southern cities in March are met with violent crackdowns by Syrian security forces. Hopes of Arab Spring reforms are dashed by armed repression. Opposition groups organize but can’t seem to unite.
• International sanctions and other attempts to pressure the government to moderate are futile; its actions are met with defiance.

2012 — Syrians flee bombing and repression.

• Lebanon becomes a major destination for Syrian refugees. Many hope they’ll return home soon.
• Za’atari refugee camp opens in Jordan near the Syrian border. Though designed as a temporary settlement, it became home to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who have stayed for years.
• August: Syria has committed war crimes, acts that violate accepted international agreements and may even involve actions against civilians, according to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

2013 — Conflict increases as other countries join the fight.

• March: Syrian refugees total 1 million.
• April: Chemical attacks are confirmed. President Assad is accused of the attacks.
• September: Syrian refugees total 2 million.

2014 — Humanitarian needs increase, but access to people in need becomes more difficult for aid groups.

• April: Azraq camp opens in Jordan; 1 million refugees are now in Lebanon, estimated to be one-quarter of the country’s population. The large number of refugees puts a severe strain on the nation’s social systems.
• June: ISIL declares a caliphate in Syria and Iraq’s occupied territory. Syrian refugees number 3 million in countries neighboring Syria; 100,000 people have reached Europe.

2015 — Europe feels the pressure of Syrian refugees and migrants.

• Hungary erects a border wall, then closes the border with Serbia to stop refugees from entering Europe.
• The World Food Program cuts rations to refugees in Lebanon and Jordan due to a funding shortfall.
• September: The photo of 2-year-old Alan Kurdi (initially reported as Aylan Kurdi) shocks the world.
• Thousands of refugees arrive daily in Greece; 1 million refugees reach Europe during 2015.

2016 — Syria is devastated by years of war.

• February: U.S. and Russian delegates negotiate a temporary cessation of hostilities, sanctioned by the U.N., to send aid to hard-to-reach populations in Syria.
• June: Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are trapped in no man’s land when Jordan closes the border after a car bombing; (about 65,000 people remain there in 2018.)
• December: Civilians are caught in the crossfire as the Syrian government retakes Aleppo from rebels. A ceasefire to free them fails.

2017 — Syrians seek safety, stability.

• March: More than 5 million people have fled conflict in Syria.
• April: 58 people are killed in a suspected nerve gas attack.
• July: A ceasefire is brokered at the G20 meeting for southwest Syria. Clashes are ongoing in Daraa, ar Raqqa, Homs, and Hama provinces and Deir ez-Zor city. More than 900,000 Syrians have been displaced this year.

2018 — Humanitarian aid is limited as the conflict continues.

• Fighting continues, despite international agreements for de-escalation.
• March 15: Syria enters the eighth year of the Syrian civil war.
• Humanitarian access is limited because of insecurity, and 2.9 million people remain in hard-to-reach areas where aid is not supplied on a regular basis.

2019 — Refugees experience new hardships.

• January: A winter storm batters Lebanon with snow, rain, heavy winds, and near-freezing temperatures. Rising floods drive many refugees from informal tent settlements, especially in the Bekaa Valley.