Next month, the EU will host the fifth Brussels Conference, which is meant to renew international diplomatic support to UN-backed efforts to find a resolution to the crisis in Syria, as well as pledging humanitarian aid commitments to the country’s long-suffering populace, including its refugees.
The UN-backed process has been moribund for years, with no real incentive for international powers competing on the ground to find a political solution to a conflict that has been decided militarily. The US has yet to indicate how it plans to re-engage with the crisis under the administration of President Joe Biden, and an effort to draft a new post-war constitution is largely dead in the water due to government intransigence.
And yet there is great urgency to address the ongoing refugee crisis, which continues to fester even if no major crises on the ground are driving people to flee the country in large numbers. The international community must renew its support by finding new ways to integrate Syrians abroad or resettle them beyond Syria's neighbouring countries, to ensure they have access to coronavirus vaccinations and to allow them to continue living peacefully instead of forcing them to return to a homeland where they risk detention, or worse.
Half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22 million has been displaced in the course of the war, which is about to enter its 11th year. Of those, around 5.6 million have fled beyond the borders of the country to its neighbours, making them refugees. Most of the total number of refugees live in neighbouring countries – 3.6 million in Turkey, close to a million in Lebanon and about 660,000 in Jordan, according to official UN figures. These numbers are usually underestimates, which puts into perspective the collective freak out and right-wing backlash of European nations when refugees tried to seek safe haven there in 2015.
But the fact that the crisis has endured for so long does not make it less urgent or absolve the international community of responsibility. Even as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the deprivation of life as a refugee in the region continues, along with unequal access to health care that could prolong the pandemic’s tail in the Middle East.
These realities are presented in a stark assessment released this week by Refugee Protection Watch, a coalition of NGOs working on the ground with refugees, and which are based on interviews with over 400 refugees and their Lebanese hosts in December and January, and which paint a terrible picture of destitution.
According to the survey, 83.8 per cent of Lebanese and 77 per cent of Syrian respondents said they did not make enough income to meet the cost of living, a result that has likely been exacerbated by Lebanon's ongoing financial crisis and the carnage that followed the Beirut explosion last August.
Those hoping to emerge from this poverty are out of luck, because one-third of Lebanese and Syrians couldn’t find jobs in their area of residence and nearly half of the Syrians had trouble obtaining a work permit that would even allow them to work legally.
Even more shameful, an incredible 88 per cent of Syrians surveyed said they had no access to health care or treatment in the event they contract Covid-19. It is still unclear how much access refugee communities will have to coronavirus vaccines, given the limited number of doses available to developing countries such as Lebanon, but it's likely that refugees will not be prioritised, especially since those who apply for vaccinations will have to have proper documentation. Jordan is an exception. Last week, people living in Zaatari became the first refugees inside a camp to receive a coronavirus vaccine, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Even as the world grapples with Covid-19, the deprivation of life as a refugee in the Middle East continues
Another dangerous trend is the growing pressure on refugees to return, something that three quarters of the respondents say they feel. Both in Turkey and Lebanon, as well as in some parts of Europe where anti-immigrant rhetoric still reigns, this drumbeat enjoys steady support, despite the dangers for returnees. Turkey has encouraged Syrians to go to areas of their country that have been secured by Ankara-backed militias (who have carried out numerous abuses), and the Lebanese government is studying a returnee plan to alleviate some of the pressure in Lebanon. But there are many reports of returnees who have been detained or forcibly disappeared upon going home, especially among activists. The country also remains in the grips of a boundless economic crisis that has impoverished a staggering number of Syrians despite the war’s end.
It is often tempting to ignore the plight of refugees; with donor fatigue and the war retreating from the headlines, the moral imperative seems to grow less urgent. But the longer the crisis festers, the longer it threatens to further destabilise Syria’s neighbours, particularly at a time of greater economic hardship. And leaving refugees behind in the vaccination drive will leave countries vulnerable to the pandemic’s aftershocks, especially given the slow speed of vaccinations in the developing world and even among the region’s wealthier countries.
Helping Syria’s refugees is the right thing to do, but it is also the sensible thing to do.
Kareem Shaheen is a veteran Middle East correspondent in Canada and a columnist for The National
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
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Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
more from Janine di Giovanni
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
MATCH INFO
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
