UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee Starts Appeal for Aid to Syrian Refugees

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and its member organizations have started an appeal to help the people of Syria, who are in the middle of a two-year civil war.

Protests and Fighting

It started out as a series of peaceful protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad which had escalated to a full-blown civil war. It has been two years since the armed conflict began and there is no end in sight. During the past two years,  there have been more than 70,000 casualties, and more than two million people have left their homes and moved to other areas in Syria where there is less fighting. Another million people have gone to neighboring countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

The protests started at the same time as the Arab Spring protest movement in the Middle East. The protests were demanding the resignation of President al-Assad and the end of the Ba’ath party rule. The Ba’ath party has been in power for more than 40 years, during which time the presidency has been held by a member of al-Assad’s family.

Due to the nature of the conflict, there has been a floating number of combatants. In 2012, the number of rebels have been increasing, while the number of members of the Syrian Armed Forces have been in decline. This has been attributed to defectors from the Syrian Armed Forces who changed allegiance and joined the rebels. There have also been foreign participants, which include the Hezbollah and Iraqi Shi’ite Militias, which have allied themselves with the government forces. For their part the rebels include a contingent of between 1,500 to 3,000 foreign Mujahideen. The fighting has also been fluid, with no discernible battle front. It has mainly been a guerrilla war with fighting across the country. There have been instances of fighting which spillovers to other countries. Another concern is the unconfirmed report that chemical weapons have been recently used.

Civilian Refugees and Aid Organizations

The refugees have not been living in camps but have lived off of whoever would let them in and assist them. Organized aid has been hard to come by due to the ongoing fighting. Aid agencies fear that the continuing exodus of refugees would hit one million within the next few months.

The DEC is a group of 14 member organizations which represent the leading aid charities in the United Kingdom. Among its members are the British Red Cross, Oxfam, CAFOD, Save the Children, Islamic Relief and Christian Aid. The group alerts a unique group called the Rapid Response Network (RRN) which broadcasts the appeal for help to the British people via all available media.

More than $1.5 billion has been pledged by donor countries in aid funding, however, help has not been distributed due to the ongoing fighting. Additionally, the pledged funding will only go to UN relief operations.

There are some members of DEC which are already helping Syrian refugees, in both government and rebel controlled areas. The organizations however are not in a position to publicize their work due to security reasons.

Photo Credit: Syrian Refugee Center