May 22, 2014

The ongoing uncontrolled violence has led to a broad disintegration of Syrian society and created different worlds, where the Syrian people have divergent lifestyles, concerns and fears.

The vast majority of Syrians are affected by the war and the use of arms, and they are now preoccupied with healing their wounds, soothing their pain and maintaining a bitter struggle to survive. This is true whether they are displaced outside Syria’s borders or inside the country, or preferred to stay in their homes and tried to adapt to the cycle of violence and ensure means of living under harsh economic and security conditions.

Syrian refugees have been exposed to serious dangers since the onset of their journey to escape from the raging battles. They are forced to live in ghettos and camps under harsh conditions, inappropriate for human beings, whose severity varies depending on the country of asylum. Most notably, the Syrian refugees suffer from exclusion and alienation. They are living in a vulnerable situation with no institutions or employment. Moreover, they are at the mercy of the aid provided by international relief organizations, which fail to meet their needs, starting with food and clothing, to stability, education, protection from nature’s madness and protection from physical abuse. The refugees also suffer from miserable health situations, and are incredibly vulnerable to communicable diseases and epidemics and many of them are injured or suffer from temporary or permanent disabilities.

Those displaced internally share with the refugees the same suffering, as they seek refuge from war’s hell after losing all their possessions and savings. They are sometimes forced to beg and to accept menial and humiliating jobs to secure their daily bread. Their fear of prosecution, detention and torture is increasing — mostly because they hail from rebel areas — to the extent that some of them believe death is more merciful than the fear, oppression and hunger.

The other world that emerged is of the regime and the areas under its control. In this world, life seems to follow a normal course. With the exception of deadly missiles hitting some neighborhoods, and the large number of security checkpoints widely spread in the streets and squares, something indicates that human beings may have become addicted to their jittery lifestyle. They are no longer concerned by the intensity of the battles, the sound of explosions, shelling of aircraft and the number of victims. The regime spares no effort to consecrate this addiction. It relies on the results achieved by the military in the countryside of Damascus and Homs to inspire confidence in its policies and prove the usefulness of its war choice, and it also seeks to hold the scheduled elections for renewing the vitality of the regime, despite the impact that these elections will have on the chances of political settlement.