Cycle of despair: The Syria crisis is far from over

This month marks nine years since the conflict in Syria erupted – and the horrors that its people have suffered in that time are truly unimaginable. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. Millions of families have been forced to flee. Hundreds of children have been maimed.

Today, more than 6.5 million Syrians are living in poverty, a third of the population doesn’t have enough to eat and 15.5 million people have no access to clean, running water. On average, every second person is unemployed, while poverty and desperation has forced children into child labour and early marriage. Almost 12 million people need humanitarian assistance while close to 6 million are displaced within their own country.

The conflict also sparked the world’s largest refugee crisis. Around 5.6 million Syrians have fled their homes to seek refuge in neighbouring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. Right now, refugees are slowly emerging from another harsh winter of snow, rain and freezing temperatures in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. There, they live in makeshift structures with little more than plastic sheeting to protect them from the bitter winter winds.

Despite their desperate living conditions, they have no choice but to stay. After all, the crisis in Syria is far from over. A five-hour drive north from the Bekaa Valley, across Syria’s northwest Idlib region, the UN estimates that a staggering 900,000 people have fled renewed violence since December. As shelling and violence intensifies, this number is rapidly approaching 1 million.

Oxfam is working in Syria, where we have reached more than 1.2 million people with aid including clean water, cash, essential clothing items, and support to help make a living and grow food.

We can’t bring an end to the fighting but we can help to save lives and give hope to those trapped in this ongoing cycle of despair.