September 5, 2015

Dear Reader,

Brothers and sisters on the streets of Aleppo one year before the revolution.
The photos released this week of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi facedown on a Turkish coastline has rattled many across the globe. Today at The WIP we sifted through stories in our archive that we believe provide the context for a crisis perhaps the world is finally poised to address. 

In November, we interviewed Dr. Dawn Chatty, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. When asked about the International Community's responsibility to displaced Syrians, she was clear: "It is both an ethical and political responsibility: ethical because the international world order has adopted a set of international instruments to protect people displaced by war and armed conflict; political because responsibility for this outflow of refugees is linked to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Arab uprising of 2011." 

The WIP archive we are building provides the context - be it historical, forward thinking, or rooted in human rights and social justice - that is often missing from standard international news reporting. Below we have chosen some of our articles highlighting the human story within the Syrian crisis. Please donate today to support the development of this archive.
 
Onward! 

FROM THE ARCHIVES: THE SYRIAN HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
 

by Riham Alkousaa -  Fadia Al-Khatib, a mother of five, came to Germany by herself. The 44-year-old Syrian woman and her husband decided that she would seek asylum first and then apply to bring her family over. Hundreds of Syrian women are making similar decisions, risking their lives for a chance at a new life.
 

Women's Rights in Conflicts: from Bosnia to Syria

by Aloosh Devrim - In Syria, many women have been forced to participate in the war - through rape and through inclusion in some military operations. They deserve a place at the negotiation table. 

Read more »

A Family Home Torn Apart in Syrian Government Shelling: Home is Where the Heart Is

by Aloosh Devrim - Araa and Ahmad Jasim have lived for two years amid the roars of tanks, the sound of automatic machine guns, and at times have been awoken by sudden loud sniper fire. There have been thousands of casualties and those lucky enough to survive usually lose a limb or two. This time, bad luck visited the Jasim family when two mortar shells tore down the walls and destroyed most of their home. 

Read more »

With Love and Respect, a Syrian Mom Dares Bashar

by Aloosh Devrim - Rania lives with her husband and their only child in a posh Damascus suburb. Nothing makes her happy since her family was forced to flee the violence in Syria three months ago. With limited international dialing facility, Rania awaits their call daily, even though the poor financial situation only allows them to telephone her once a week.  Millions of Syrians, spread across the world, contact their families and loved ones back home with similar desperation. 
 
Read more »

by Aloosh Devrim -  Syrian citizens had a bloodbath with none coming to the rescue, albeit crispy soundbites from Turkey as well as the Arab league. Shocked and awe-struck people braved their way to the street at least on each Friday as women and children saw the country being attacked by an army raised, trained and equipped by their hardearned money.  Sanctions are no good against trigger-happy, stuborn dictators. The Arab League and the European Union curbs had no bearing on Bashar Al-Assad's actions. My fellow Syrians are increasingly suspicious of the world's conscience. 

Unjust Nationality Law Deprives Syrian Women's Children of Basic Rights

by Alia Turki Al-Rabeo - Nour speaks Arabic better than I do and in a Syrian accent. He loves Syrian food and sings Syrian national songs. Yet he cannot enroll in any government school. Sawsan, his mother, must renew his residency every year because according to the Syrian Nationality Law she cannot pass on her nationality to her husband or child. Nour inherited this discrimination because Sawsan chose an Iranian to be her husband and his father. 


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Sincerely,
Kate Daniels
Founder and Editor 
ABOUT THE WIP

Based at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, The WIP® Internet News Service is your global source for women's perspectives. The WIP promotes diversity and is not associated with any particular religious, political, or cultural affiliation. We provide an opportunity to balance the under-representation of women journalists and strive to bring together divergent cultures and opinions in solution-based dialogue.


The WIP is a publication of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.