Syria’s conflict: Three years on
With fighting and diplomacy deadlocked, what will it take to resolve a crisis that shows no sign of ending?
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, has described the conflict in Syria as “the biggest humanitarian and peace and security crisis facing the world, with violence reaching unthinkable levels”.
The UN says 40 percent of Syria’s population is in need of humanitarian aid, and at least 140,000 people have been killed. But three years on, there appears to be no end in sight to the suffering.
A Syrian refugee in Lebanon told Al Jazeera of her fears for her newborn daughter. Ensaf Khaled said: “I feel sorry for her because whatever she’ll have, it will be less than what her siblings had. She’ll be deprived when it comes to clothes, heat, a warm bed and basic health care.”
Another refugee, Awad al Hamad, said: “The war has prevented us from having any dreams or plans for our lives. We just survive the day not knowing what will happen to us tomorrow. All our hopes and ambitions and plans have been shattered because of this war. We have no hope for the future.”
A military resolution to the conflict is seen as unlikely in the near future, if at all; and diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis appear to have stalled.
On Inside Syria we ask: Where does hope lie for an end to the fighting?
Presenter: Jane Dutton
Guests: Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch
Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese army general, and military analyst
Bruce Jones, the director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University