05/18/13 Thousands of children fleeing Syrian civil war to Lebanon
05/18/13
Beirut, Lebanon- “They shot them, they shot my mama and dad,” 9-year-old Abdullah shouted, looking left and right with fear in his face. He would not give his family name. Abdullah, a Syrian civil war refugee, was begging in front of a coffee shop in northern Lebanon’s ancient coastal city of Batroun, 30 miles from Beirut. In his scruffy pullover and jeans and tattered sandals, he is the face of a generation of young Syrians who have borne much of the burden of Syria’s 2-year-old conflict. Both of his parents were killed early in the civil war, he said. A senior source in the Lebanese General Security office, in Beirut, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that that more than 900,000 Syrian refugees have entered Lebanon since the conflict began, via three legal border crossings and by air into Beirut. The Syria Regional Refugee Response, a website maintained by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, says about 450,000 of these refugees are registered with the U.N. refugee agency — and half of these are under 18. Read More >> Ya Libnan 05/17/13 Syria's Bashar al-Assad is winning
05/17/13 By Mike Giglio
Despite President Obama’s assertion on Thursday that he reserves “the options of taking additional steps, both diplomatic and military,” foreign intervention in Syria seems a distant prospect, and that, along with a string of military successes, has fueled the perception that president Bashar al-Assad now has the upper hand in his country’s bloody civil war. As Republican Sen. John McCain bluntly put it this week: "Right now, Bashar al-Assad is winning." During the last few months, the Syrian military have retaken strategic areas across the country, reopening supply lines in the north and south while ramping up its offensive in the western city of Homs, a critical gateway between Damascus and the coast. Assad’s forces have also reinforced their strongholds in Damascus and elsewhere while weathering what rebels had billed as a major offensive in the capital. Now Assad—whose impending demise was predicted by opponents both at home and abroad after rebels brought the war to Damascus and the commercial capital of Aleppo this summer—seems to be enjoying some unexpected momentum. On his visit to Washington this week, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the idea of the rebels resolving the conflict by force “is not looking promising.” Read More >> Daily Beast 05/16/13 In Syria, terrorist designation means people go hungry
05/16/13 By Tom A. Peter
Members of Abu Sayeed’s grassroots aid group were en route to the Turkish border to pick up a shipment of food when the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra announced that his group was loyal to Al Qaeda. Immediately the Gulf donors who’d sent the food withdrew their support. Mr. Sayeed says his organization has no ties to Jabhat al-Nusra or any group on either side of the conflict. However the presence of Al Qaeda-linked fighters among the Syrian rebels has scared off a number of donors, unwilling to risk inadvertently supporting the group and suffering repercussions, like financial sanctions from the US. “There are so many Islamic organizations that stopped supporting us after Nusra’s statement,” he says, adding that he’s sent representatives to reassure donors and get support flowing once more. “They were worried about getting blacklisted.” Read More >> CSM 05/15/13 All sides in Syria have weapons 'except the good guys', says British official
05/15/13 By Matthew Weaver
All sides in the Syrian conflict have access to weapons "except the good guys," according to the official in charge of handling Britain's response to the crisis inSyria. Reza Afshar, head of the Syria team at the foreign office, publicly revealed for the first time how important weapons had become to Britain's private bargaining with the Syrian opposition. Afshar suggested the opposition had insisted on getting access to arms before they agree to enter talks with the Assad regime. Speaking at a meeting in the Commons, he said: "We are trying to get the opposition to get involved in a negotiation with people they really don't want to negotiate with. The political reality is that in order to get them to the table we need to amend the arms embargo. It is that simple. They need an incentive." Afshar defended Britain's attempts to lift an EU arms embargo against Syria by claiming that the current restrictions were pushing Syria towards extremism. Read More >> Guardian 05/14/13 Syria peace talks look doomed in advance
05/14/13 By Alistair Lyon
LONDON: If anyone saw last week's U.S.-Russian agreement to convene a peace conference on Syria as a potential breakthrough, Western leaders have been going out of their way to disabuse them. International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi hailed the plan as the "first hopeful news" on Syria in a long time and deferred his own plans to resign after nine months of futile mediation. He called the proposal "only a first step". But even its sponsors are dampening expectations that a civil war estimated to have killed 80,000 people can be doused soon, and pitfalls they cite in public are only a few of those lying in wait. "I'm not promising that it's going to be successful," U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday. Obstacles include Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, both of which support President Bashar al-Assad, as well as the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front on the rebel side, he added. Obama did not mention chronic disunity in the ranks of the Western-backed opposition or its almost complete lack of control over the now mostly Islamist insurgent forces on the ground. Read More >> Reuters 05/13/13 David Cameron arrives in US buoyed by Russian signals on Syria
05/13/13 By Nicholas Watt
David Cameron will tell Barack Obama in the White House on Monday that he believes Vladimir Putin may be prepared to adopt a more flexible approach on Syria. The prime minister will tell the president, in talks being convened ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland for June, that he was greatly encouraged by his meeting with Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday. A bilateral meeting between Cameron and Putin, attended only by their respective national security advisers, overran after being dominated by Syria. Cameron was struck when the Russian president made a point of moving his briefing notes to one side and asking to hear the prime minister's thoughts on the Syrian crisis. Britain has been insistent for months that the Syrian crisis, which has claimed at least 70,000 lives, can only be solved if the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is removed from power. Russia has been supportive of the regime and has vetoed a series of UN security council resolutions critical of Assad. Read More >> Guardian 05/12/13Under the black flag of al-Qaeda, the Syrian city ruled by gangs of extremists
05/12/13 BY Richard Spencer and David Rose
The Islamists smashed up one of the two shops that sold alcohol. That much was pretty inevitable, the locals agreed. The other off-licence had already closed, as had the casino on the outskirts of town. They brought in a radical cleric from Egypt to preach Friday prayers, and set up a sharia court in the city’s new sports centre with the support of other brigades. They had their fiefdom — an entire city to run only 60 miles from Nato’S border. Then, one night, 10 men came for Nagham and Nour al-Rifaie, two teenage sisters from a well-known liberal family. They were at home with a family friend, Yusra Omran, 30, and their male cousin, 32. “All these guys came in with guns and wearing masks and with handcuffs,” said Nagham, 19, a civil engineering student. “They started searching everything, and shouting. “They were saying, 'Put on more clothes than you are wearing, put on a headscarf.’ Read More >> Telegraph 
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Thank you for your kindness 01/04/13 Syrian Assistance delivers aid to Atme camp05/03/13 Syria's rebel doctor12/17/12 Syrian refugees brace for harsh winter11/28/12 Ground Zero: Syria (Part 5) - The bombing of Aleppo's Dar al-Shifa hospital11/22/12 Aleppo - A city engulfed in civil war by Carsten Stormer11/12/12 Ground Zero: Syria (part 4) - Under fire for bread in Aleppo11/05/12 Ground Zero: Syria (part 3) - The atrocities within Aleppo's field hospital11/01/12 Young Syrian amputee's story10/29/12 Ground Zero: Syria (part 2) - Burning of the old souk10/22/12 Ground Zero: Syria (part 1) - Assad's child victims |
Basmala - Injured Syrian child in Turkish hospitalSyrian Assistance team carried out a visit to hospitals in Hatay, Turkey.
This is an interview with Basmala, an 8 year old Syrian girl injured as a result of government shelling, as she was asleep at home with her 10 year old sister Houda. Houda was killed as a result. |
Maram - 4 year old Syrian girl paralysedThis is an interview with Maram, a 4 year old Syrian girl. Her lower body became paralyzed as a result of government shelling on her house.
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06/18/12 Helping Syrian mothers in Lebanon
<<< Baby Saad in ICU
Recently we became aware of a special group of Syrian refugees in Lebanon that needed assistance, mothers-to-be. Through activists we were told about 7 women in Beirut who were soon to give birth, one very shortly! Rajaa, from Ma'arat Nouman, was booked in for a caesarian section, which we said we would cover the cost of. The operation went well and baby Saad was born, but because an infection he was kept in the ICU for a few days. However there were no complications, mother and baby are doing fine, and have left hospital.
While baby Saad was beginning his new life we decided to buy the women a collection of items for their new babies, of which there are some pictures below. These included diapers, lotion, shampoo, clothes (for their first 5 months) and soap amongst other things. The total cost was about $633. A little starter kit for these young Syrians and their mums. In addition to the cost of the operation ($330) and a contribution to the ICU costs ($300 - their daily charge is $500), we spent around $1300. Thank you to all who have donated. The help is appreciated so much, and Rajaa says thank you.
Report by Syrian Relief Care team member (Lebanon)
More pictures here
Recently we became aware of a special group of Syrian refugees in Lebanon that needed assistance, mothers-to-be. Through activists we were told about 7 women in Beirut who were soon to give birth, one very shortly! Rajaa, from Ma'arat Nouman, was booked in for a caesarian section, which we said we would cover the cost of. The operation went well and baby Saad was born, but because an infection he was kept in the ICU for a few days. However there were no complications, mother and baby are doing fine, and have left hospital.
While baby Saad was beginning his new life we decided to buy the women a collection of items for their new babies, of which there are some pictures below. These included diapers, lotion, shampoo, clothes (for their first 5 months) and soap amongst other things. The total cost was about $633. A little starter kit for these young Syrians and their mums. In addition to the cost of the operation ($330) and a contribution to the ICU costs ($300 - their daily charge is $500), we spent around $1300. Thank you to all who have donated. The help is appreciated so much, and Rajaa says thank you.
Report by Syrian Relief Care team member (Lebanon)
More pictures here
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