Chinanews.com, March 15th (He Luman Wang continued to burn) "We are living in a nightmare, and I hope that one day I can wake up from the nightmare." Haulah from northwestern Syria said.
The Syrian crisis that started in 2011 has lasted for twelve years as of March 15, 2023.
Just last month, a sudden and powerful earthquake shattered the war-torn country even more.
Data map: In Aleppo, Syria, people sit and drink coffee in a building damaged by the earthquake. This building has become "hollowed out" during the strong earthquake.
The Syrian people not only suffer attacks every day, but also face a series of subsequent impacts brought about by the earthquake.
"I don't know how much more we can take. Death is everywhere here," said Hahula, 47. "The world seems to have forgotten about Syria."
Under the double crisis, when will the suffering of the Syrian people end?
Another Misery in the Unexpected Calamity
Noah, 20, has spent most of his life amidst Syria's protracted crisis -- from a brutal civil war to climate shocks to, most recently, severe natural disasters.
Noah gave birth to her baby on February 5 in Latakia in western Syria.
The young mother was full of hope for the birth of her daughter.
However, at 4 o'clock the next morning, everything fell into a whirlpool of terror.
The walls shook, the ceiling caved in, and horrible sounds came from all directions.
"Our house has collapsed." Nuha escaped, bleeding and holding her one-day-old daughter to the shelter.
It was crowded with injured people, and she tried to call for help, but found chaos everywhere.
On February 8, 2023, in Idlib Province, Syria, a man carried the body of a child from the rubble.
The sudden earthquake affected at least 8.8 million people in Syria, with tens of thousands of families living in unfinished buildings, informal settlements and makeshift tents.
Dia, 51, along with his wife and two sons, lost their home in Aleppo in the February 6 earthquake.
They have been displaced several times during the Syrian conflict.
"I can't remember how many times we've moved. We were besieged twice and almost died. In the end, we fled to the north." The family of four found a house, but without doors or windows.
"We were living in a state of great trauma, a life we never imagined. Even these tents were made of thin plastic. The wind was getting stronger and stronger for several nights, and we had to use stones from all sides to set up the tents. Fixed to the ground - earthquakes happen on top of it all."
Data map: A densely populated bazaar in the town of Ariha in Idlib Province in northwestern Syria was hit by air strikes, and the shops in the bazaar were bombed beyond recognition.
However, what is more desperate than experiencing the earthquake is that the unresolved issues at the core of the Syrian crisis directly affect the effective implementation of earthquake emergency relief work to a certain extent, and create greater obstacles and dilemmas for post-disaster recovery.
“No international rescuers, no truckloads of medical aid facilities, no constant stream of ambulances coming to the wounded — the border into Syria is empty and silent,” a reporter for NPR described.
The head of the Red Crescent Society, Khalid Hoububati, said: "Because of the blockade and sanctions, we don't even have enough fuel to send a rescue convoy." However, in the face of the tragic natural disasters caused by the Syrian people, the United States initially But he refused to lift the sanctions, insisting that "sanctions have not hindered humanitarian assistance."
The aftermath of the Syrian crisis 12 years ago has once again made the local people pay a heavy price.
Another crime under the banner of anti-terrorism
In March 2011, affected by the "Arab Spring" movement, a domestic crisis broke out in Syria.
The United States and its allies took advantage of the chaos to intervene in an attempt to overthrow the country's regime in one fell swoop by fighting a "proxy war".
In 2014, the United States carried out "pan-terrorism" under the banner of "anti-terrorism" and launched the so-called "most precise air strikes" in Syria on the grounds of fighting the extremist organization "Islamic State".
United Nations data show that the US military intervention has caused at least 350,000 deaths in Syria and nearly 14 million people have been displaced.
Data map: On April 14, 2018 local time, people in Damascus, the capital of Syria, launched demonstrations on the streets to protest against the United States' joint British and French air strikes on Damascus.
In addition to military intervention, sanctions have also become a "tool for mass killing" by the United States.
In 2019, the then U.S. President Trump signed the "Caesar Act", which expanded the scope of sanctions to almost all aspects of the lives of the Syrian people.
The Syrian people do not understand what the "democracy" and "human rights" promoted by the United States and other Western countries are.
What they know is that the sanctions imposed by the United States and the West have deprived Syrians of their most basic right to life.
After struggling for 12 years, Syria has still not escaped the clutches of the United States.
"Our ambulances don't even have fuel to transport the wounded, but the United States has been stealing our gas and oil and sending them to third countries." Bashar Jafari, the Syrian ambassador to Russia, said on 2 days after the earthquake said on the 10th.
However, the ambassador's helplessness and the suffering of the Syrian people did not stop the United States from doing so.
On February 27, the U.S. troops stationed in Syria transported Syrian oil to the U.S. military base in Iraq; on March 4, the U.S. and the local Kurdish militia alliance supported by the U.S. once again let two convoys smuggle Syrian oil out of the country—a convoy consisting of 23 vehicles, and another convoy of 34 vehicles.
Image source: Screenshot of a report by the Syrian National News Agency (SANA)
According to data released by the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the average daily output of Syrian oil in the first half of 2022 is 80,300 barrels, while the U.S. military illegally extracts as many as 66,000 barrels of oil from northeastern Syria every day, accounting for about half of Syria’s daily oil output. 83%.
The United States has long since stopped concealing its "wolf ambition" of coveting oil in the Middle East. Former U.S. President Trump even publicly stated that the reason why the U.S. military will stay in Syria is "for oil."
The "banditry" of the United States is far more than that.
Hasakah Province in northeastern Syria is known as Syria's "granary", where the US military has repeatedly smuggled or burned Syrian wheat.
On the 12th anniversary of the Syrian crisis, the U.S. House of Representatives voted down a resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria within six months.
Opponents believe that the withdrawal resolution is "premature" and will leave partner forces "isolated."
Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army, made a surprise visit to an illegal U.S. military base in Syria for the first time as the top general of the U.S. military.
He declared that the United States is determined to continue to deploy about 900 troops in Syria "in order to continue to fight terrorist organizations and ensure the safety of the United States and its allies."
Another Possibility After Twelve Years of Crisis
In the 12 years since the Syrian crisis, many problems have been intertwined and intertwined.
"After 12 years of conflict and humanitarian crisis, the Syrian people face their worst year yet, with 15.3 million people - some 70 percent of the Syrian population - in need of humanitarian assistance." UN Humanitarian Ghada Eltahir Al-Mudawi, Deputy Director of the Office for the Coordination of Islamic Affairs, said during a briefing to the Council in January.
On March 11, 2018, in Douma, a small town in the southeastern suburbs of Damascus, Syria, children in the town live in a shelter with deformed beams.
Such a situation not only brought pain to Syria, but also shrouded the entire region in the shadow of instability and insecurity.
UN Special Envoy on Syria Pei Kairu once said frankly that many problems in the Syrian crisis are beyond the country's own control. This crisis requires a comprehensive political solution, and other methods will not work.
“Finding a real way forward at the political level will require less pretentiousness and more pragmatism and candor from all stakeholders; deepening dialogue while insulating Syria from wider geopolitical disputes.” Pei Kairu said.
On April 16, 2018, the day after the bombing, life in Damascus was as usual. A boy with a bulletproof vest was walking on the dilapidated road.
UN Secretary-General Guterres has called for a "new energy" for peace.
He said: "Now is the time for us to act in unison to ensure a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, to advance the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people, to create the conditions necessary for the voluntary return of refugees in safety and dignity, and for the United Nations to respect Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity." strong commitment to integrity and regional stability."
He remains convinced that reciprocal and verifiable steps by all parties in Syria, as well as by key international stakeholders, on the comprehensive set of issues outlined in Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) can open the way to sustainable peace.
On February 22, 2023 local time, Aleppo, Syria, after the earthquake, a Syrian artist painted on the ruins of the earthquake, depicting nostalgia and hope.
"If there is a paradise on earth, Damascus must be in it." The 12 years of war have left Syria, the pearl of the Middle East, covered with heartbreaking scars.
The Syrian people have shown extraordinary resilience in the past twelve years. They look forward to seeing their wounds healed, rebuilding their peaceful homes, and returning to a stable life.
They believe, "After darkness, there will be light." (End)