Battleground In Syria Or The Syrian Civil War

Ever since the civil war between Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and parties that oppose the current Syrian government started, Syria has not been a liveable country. The country has turned into a battleground in which people are under the constant threat of being shot or bombed. Therefore, many Syrians have been seeking help from foreign countries such as Canada as refugees, though they have been helping, the help is only a dent compared to what they could be doing; the approach to this problem has to be changed in order for it to be effective. First, though Canada has changed some of its policies so that the process for refugees to be legally admitted is shorter, it is still a very lengthy and complex process that they have to undergo.

Second, Canada and the international community does not reach out to the fleeing Syrians to help them get to safety. Lastly, in terms of a national response, the Syrian government is choosing to overlook all of the damage and deaths that have been happening ever since the war started. The process for Syrian refugees to flee their country and find shelter in another is very hard and many complications can arise throughout the journey; however foreign countries such as Canada still make it extremely hard for refugees to legally be part of their countries. Before the Liberals were elected as Canada’s governing body, Stephen Harper, a Conservative, was in power and had put in place various measures that made the process for refugees to come into Canada harder; explaining it by inciting fear on Canadians that refugees are dangerous people. After Trudeau’s administration came into power, they have since made the process easier, however still not as smooth as it could be for people in the refugee situation. When a refugee first gets in Canada, most do not have passports or any legal document, meaning that they cannot apply for a legal refugee status; they are illegally living in the country and do not have access to basic needs such as jobs, shelter, food, and safety. Some refugees are forced to return home. In Canada the refugees have to go through a process which contains paperwork that needs to be filled out, and a hearing that will assess whether or not they will be granted legal status as a refugee, if they are denied, Canada will usually send the refugee back to the country where they were trying to escape from. However we also offer different options for the refugees in case they are denied, but they are all very lengthy processes that may not work.

As mentioned before, the journey for a fleeing Syrian can be very dangerous and many complications may come along, therefore countries that are capable of sending help for those trying to flee Syria should send aid instead of only sending troops to fight. In 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new plan to aid the Syrian crisis; he planned on sending more military forces to fight and helping Syria’s neighboring countries with refugee camps. However, he did not mention helping the Syrians who are trying to flee the country, if Canada were to send more of its troops to aid the escaping refugees, then the fatality and risk of those trying to escape would be decreased. Syrians who are trying to escape the treacherous conditions of their country often times seek help from smugglers that take them out of Syria, however these smugglers can cost very much and sometimes can betray their “clients” by telling them off to police. If during the journey the smuggler and the refugees are caught, they can be sent back to their country. However, if Canada and Syria’s neighboring countries’ troops were to team up and help those fleeing, the escape process could be a lot less dangerous and nerve-racking for the refugees. The Syrian refugee problem would not have escalated or even started if the civil war had not began in the first place; but now that it has started neither side will give in. The war started because people wanted a democracy, and not a dictatorship, which was how Assad was governing the people.

However, Assad does not want a democracy because he wants to stay in power; hence the war against Assad and his people began. The war has been going on for nearly eight years now and it has become a humanitarian crisis that the Syrian government is choosing to overlook; the country is in a state of anarchy and over 250,000 innocent Syrians have been killed in the midst of this war. And when citizens want to escape, their own country does not let them and neighboring countries are extremely dangerous to reach. The Syrian government does not send help to the people that are stranded in the middle of the battle, and that is increasing the level of the crisis. Syria has been having a civil war that has claimed the lives of many for a considerable amount of years now. And people that have been trying to escape it have not had the appropriate aid that they need due to the incompetence of their own nation and the international community. When people do try to flee, Canada does not make the legal process easy; many refugees are turned around and sent back to the place that is putting their lives in constant danger. Syria’s bordering countries do not help the refugees and put them in danger while they are trying to seek aid by sometimes firing at them or they just send them back to Syria. And the Syrian government has chosen to ignore its people that are in desperate need of basic needs due to the greediness of their own leader. The Syrian refugee crisis is a problem that has been ongoing for far too long and needs to be given appropriate and effective aid.