Syrian Refugee Crisis

Syrian refugees in Lebanon, May 2014

Media attention on the Syrian conflict peaked last August with the Assad Regimes chemical weapon attacks killing thousands of civilians. However the current issues faced by Syrians has failed maintain the interest international community. The conflict enters its fourth year and has had shocking human consequences. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs labels the Syria the worlds worst current crisis with 9 million displaced and requiring aid. The refugee crisis is having a significant impact on the region, with neighbour Lebanon taking in 1 million refugees and 600,000 in Jordan. Despite the enormous scale of the conflict the response to the Syrian Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan has been severely underfunded , below is a graph by the UNOCHA

The statistics and the worlds response are troubling, but one of my greatest fears is what will happen 20 years down the track. Half of the refugee population are under 30 years old and many of them children. We have a generation of youth growing up stateless, disenfranchised, relying on aid with no hope in the immediate future. This is the generation will be the leaders of the region and the future is in their hands.