The Syria crisis could see at least six million more displacements over yet another decade if the conflict, insecurity, and economic deterioration continue unabated, according to a new report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
Ten years since the start of the biggest displacement crisis since World War II, analysis by NRC shows that on average, an estimated 2.4 million displacements occurred in and outside Syria every year since the start of the conflict in 2011.
In 2020, only 467,000 returned home, while 1.8 million were newly displaced inside Syria, meaning that for every person who managed to return home, nearly four were displaced.
NRC Secretary-General Jan Egeland said this was a “decade of shame for humanity,” indicating that the callous indifference towards the millions of Syrian children, mothers, and fathers “bereft of their homes and their lives is a damning indictment of the parties to this cruel war, their sponsors, and the entire international community.”
Egeland warned that unless urgent action is taken to reverse this stalemate, the next decade will continue to bring suffering and displace several million more.
Displaced Syrians across the Middle East overwhelmingly say that they have lost hope of returning home in the next five to ten years, even as they face deteriorating living conditions while displaced inside and outside the country.
However, a few expressed a desire to return home saying they would only do so if there was a political settlement, and their safety was guaranteed.
Syrians were more concerned about how they will put food on the table for their families, pay the rent, or take care of medical expenses than envisioning a future back home, according to the report.
The total number of people displaced inside Syria stands at 6.5 million, and around 70 percent of them have now been displaced for over five years. Nearly a quarter of them have been displaced at least four times, with every displacement further eroding their ability to cope.
While conflict is still the number one driver of displacement, assessments show that economic deterioration has forced Syrians to flee inside the country.
Of the 23,100 newly displaced in January, 32 percent said it was due to lack of access to basic services, and 28 percent due to economic deterioration. Despite the growing humanitarian needs, international aid to Syria could face further cuts.
Egeland said the longer this crisis is left unsolved, the more economic destitution is expected to become the prominent push factor for further displacement.
“We know that more countries with influence are turning their back on Syria. They need to step out of their complacency and constructively step in to support the millions of Syrians who depend on vital aid and are clamoring for an end to the conflict.”
NRC warned that the nearly 5.6 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries face protracted displacement, with little prospect of them being able to return to Syria in the foreseeable future, or fully integrate where they are currently based.
In addition, about one million Syrian children have been born in exile where their future appears grim and filled with uncertainty.
Meanwhile, Save the Children warned Tuesday that after ten years of war, the vast majority of Syria’s children cannot imagine a future in their country.
Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East and Eastern Europe Jeremy Stoner warned that Syrian children affected by this conflict are still struggling to feel at home where they are.
“This ten-year war has cost Syria’s young people their childhoods, but the world should not allow it to rob them of their future.”
For its report “Anywhere but Syria,” Save the Children interviewed over 1,900 displaced children and their caregivers inside and outside Syria.
On average, 86 percent of Syrian refugee children surveyed in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and the Netherlands said they would not want to return to their country of origin. Of children displaced inside Syria, one in three would rather be living in another country.
Children who fled their homes are struggling to feel safe where they are now, as around two in five children of those surveyed said they face discrimination and a lack of education.
The study showed that only three percent of the children surveyed in Turkey, nine percent in Jordan and the Netherlands, and 29 percent in Lebanon want to return to Syria.
The United Nations Children's Fund reported that more than 8.5 million Syrian children depend on aid inside Syria and neighboring countries.
The UN indicated that 60 percent of children in Syria suffer from food insecurity, and more than half of them lack education.
