Winters in the hills of Syria and Turkey can be harsh, as tens of thousands of refugees from Assad's brutal attempt to crush his own people are now discovering. Even for those who know how tough winter can be, there is a big difference weathering it in the warmth and comfort of their family home and enduring the worst of the rain, wind, cold and snow in fragile tent cities. That is the fate now facing nearly three million refugees from the conflict. Some two million of these unfortunates have fled their homes for other areas inside Syria itself. There are however at least 400,000 refugees who have been registered by the UN in neighboring countries, principally Turkey and Jordan.
The UN has said that it expects this figure to rise to nearer 700,000 in the next six weeks, as the fighting moves into new areas of the country, forcing more people to flee their homes and obliging existing refugees to move on yet again. Not only that, officials admit that tens of thousands of Syrians who have left the country have still not been properly registered. In such a deeply confused situation, the UN estimate that some 200,000 children are in grave danger from freezing temperatures is probably too conservative. Of particular concern according to one NGO, Refugees International, are the 12,000 Syrians still stuck on their side of the frontier. There are simply no places for them in refugees camps and they are forced to survive in appalling conditions while fresh accommodation is built for them in the safety of neighboring countries. Time and again, after both man-made and natural disasters, we have seen how, despite copious hand-wringing by international leaders, simply not enough is done to help the victims who have, as they believed, fled to safety. For the Assad regime, of course, the upheaval the fighting has caused is probably a bonus. It complicates the administration of those areas controlled by the rebels.
Damascus may also calculate that the flight of hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens robs the rebels of some of the support and resources upon which they drew heavily at the start of the rebellion 18 months ago. Though a proportion of those who have fled their country may care more about the safety of their families than the revolution, the regime seems to have reached the point where it considers anyone who is not holding a weapon on its behalf to be an enemy. With the exception of Iraq, all Syria's neighbors have declared their disgust at what Damascus is doing.
That has not however dissuaded Assad one bit from continuing his oppression. It seems almost as if the regime is taking a perverse pride in the condemnation that all countries, save Russia, China, Iraq and Iran, have heaped upon it. The recognition by the UK and France as well as Turkey and the GCC states of the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the legitimate government of Syria is a crucial step.
However, it does nothing for the millions of internal and external refugees from the conflict. While France and Britain debate how they can best help the opposition, they should recognize that one important and indeed powerful piece of support would be financial and logistical aid for the refugees. The international community should follow the example set this summer by so many people here in the Kingdom and give generously, and then some, to ensure that all of Syria's refugees can survive a harsh winter in decent and safe surroundings.
