This post previously appeared in Politico.
Syria’s civil war has become one of the largest humanitarian disasters in recent memory. The number of displaced Syrians is climbing rapidly, and the United Nations now estimates that half of Syria’s 20 million people could need aid by the end of this year. The Obama Administration and Congress have responded generously to the needs of Syrians during the last two years of conflict, but clearly more must be done.
An edited version of this piece appeared on The Hill's Congress Blog.
This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post.
There are now roughly 200,000 Syrian refugees in 17 camps throughout southeastern Turkey, and this week a Refugees International team visited one such camp in Kilis Province.
This post originally appeared at The Hill's Congress Blog.
Two nights ago, my Refugees International colleagues and I paid a visit to a cramped apartment on the Turkish-Syrian border. Dr. Najjar, a Syrian physician, showed us various types of medical equipment he had gathered over the past week. They will be sent into a northern Syria province in the coming days to resupply hospitals and clinics.
This post originally appeared on The Hill's Congress Blog.
Last week in Iraqi Kurdistan, two solemn anniversaries were being commemorated: the chemical weapons attack on Halabja 25 years ago and the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, there was another anniversary that went largely unnoticed: the second anniversary of the conflict in Syria.
This post originally appeared on The Hill's Congress Blog.
Starting today, my colleague Marc Hanson and I will be in the Middle East to continue our field research on the situation of Syrian refugees.
RI first looked at this crisis a year ago in Lebanon, when the number of refugees there was relatively small and assistance was distributed largely through local authorities and host families. No one expected the crisis to take on the proportions that it has since, nor last so long.
This post originally appeared in The National.
In the last few weeks alone, the country has seen summary executions, the bombing of a major university, and population displacement on a massive and growing scale.
By any standard, one billion is a daunting number. How many grains of sand is one billion? How long would it take to eat one billion M&Ms? For policymakers and others who deal with national budgets on a daily basis, the concept of ‘one billion’ may not be so hard to grasp. But for most of us it borders on the incomprehensible.
Mariella Trager serves as chair of Refugees International's Washington Circle.
By Mariella Trager
Friends of Refugees International came together on Thursday, October 25, at the beautiful Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC. Around 100 people gathered for the luncheon, where they explored the ongoing displacement crisis in Syria and RI’s advocacy efforts there.