The document discusses the Syrian refugee crisis stemming from the Syrian Civil War. It provides background on factors that fueled the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 across the Middle East. In Syria, President Assad cracked down on protesters, leading to civil war between government forces and opposition groups. By 2012, the fighting involved foreign allies sending weapons and fighters to both sides. Over 250,000 people have died in the conflict so far. The war has displaced over 5 million Syrians as refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Europe and elsewhere. Syrian refugees face dangers in crossing the Mediterranean and difficulties integrating in host countries due to overcrowding, limited resources, and strain on infrastructure and economies.

1. Running Head: International Impact: Crisis in Syria 1
International Impact: Crisis in Syria
Gil Goldman
Widener University

2. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 2
Spreading awareness on an issue is a difficult task for the simple fact that all
countries face problems in one fashion or another. Some of these problems spread
globally and become international issues. Therefore, it is necessary to explore these
issues not merely on a national arena, but an international one. One such
international issue that should be explored is the conflict that is continually raging
though Syria, killing many, and displacing others. To truly understand the situation
that is going on in Syria and help spread awareness, it is important to explore what
are the possible influences of this conflict, events and progression of this conflict,
and how it lead to what is now known as the Syrian Refugee Crisis.
The Arab Spring
The Arab Spring, as it is called, became a hallmark of change all across the
Arab world. According to Manfreda (2014), “The Arab Spring was a series of anti-
government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle
East in Early 2011” (para. 1). The Arab Spring started, according to (Carbonnier,
2013; Tetreault, 2011; Yafal, 2011), with a young Tunisian street vender who set
himself on fire due to mistreatment by local police and municipal officials. However,
this young Tunisian street vender was only the face of this movement. It was also
fueled by other events and conditions in the Middle East and North Africa.
For example, poverty, unemployment, and political repression in Tunisia
sparked protests in late December 2010 to get Ben Ali, the president of Tunisia at
the time, to resign (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). In January 2011, President Ben
Ali stepped down from his 23 years of presidency and was later found guilty by the
Tunisian courts for embezzment and misuse of public funds (BBC, 2011).

3. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 3
Another example of factors that fueled this movement was a communications
blackout in Egypt. Ramez Mohamed, an Egyptian citizen, told The New York Times in
February 2011 that this blockade was one of the main reasons that he decided to
join the protests that were already engulfing Egypt at the time (Goldstein, n.d.).
Other key factors like the lack of human rights and violence in a multitude of Arab
countries fueled this movement. For instance in 1996 there was a mass killing in
Abu Salim Prison in Libya. Due to a court mandate in 2008, the government was
forced to reveal this fact, and families of those victims were the first to demonstrate
regularly in public (Goldstein, n.d.).
According to Tetreault (2011), the release of information through wikileaks, their
analysis, news organization such as The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and The
Guardian, plus cell phones enabled information to be reached to citizens. Soon,
citizens protested against corruption by the government, incompetence, and
dishonesty plus violence and other mistreatment. In addition, because of cell phones
and other social media, the citizens of Arab countries could secretly exchange
information and their opinions about their own and other nations in the Arab world
and ultimately encouraging activism and change throughout the Middle East and
North Africa (Goldstein, n.d.).
All of these factors influenced the start, continuation, and ultimate change
that is currently occurring around the Arab world. It was the young Tunisian street
vender who was the face of the Arab Spring, it was past events that led to a desire
for change, and it was technology that helped communication, not only in the

4. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 4
specific country, but also internationally to transform this grouping of protests into
a movement.
Crisis in Syria
Some people see the Arab Spring as bringing positive change to the Middle
East, others see the opposite effect, yet, no matter how one sees it, the Arab Spring
helped bring change to the region. This change sometimes brought struggles that
should be described. One such struggle is the Syrian Civil War.
The Arab Spring sparked regime changes as citizens overthrew leaders to
create a more democratic country. This fact led Basher Al-Assad, president of Syria,
out of fear that he himself would be overthrown or forced to resign, to oversee the
killing of more than five thousand pro-democracy protesters (Schenker, 2012).
This caused an uproar and “By July 2011, Hundreds of thousands were taking
to the streets across the country” demanding President Assad’s resignation (BBC,
2016, para. 3). Eventually, they took up arms to first protect themselves and later to
push security forces away from local areas. They later formed brigades to battle
government forces for control of the cities, towns, and the countryside; this is when
the violence intensified into civil war. By 2012, the fighting between the opposition
of the regime and the regime reached the capital, Damascus, and the second city of
Aleppo (BBC, 2016).
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, by late 2012, the fighting became a
stalemate as the rebels fighting against the regime, now called the Syrian National
Coalition (SNC) and their army, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), held areas in the north

5. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 5
of Syria but had little equipment, weaponry, and organization to continue (n.d.). The
government forces were weekend by defections and likewise, unable to continue.
Due to this, international allies of both these groups began to send weapons and
other forms of support to both sides (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.). Turkey, Saudi
Arabia, and Qatar started to fund the rebels while Iran and Lebanese Militant group
Hezbollah sent weapons to the Syrian government and later, sent in their own
fighters, a Shi’a Islamist Militant group to battle the rebels (Encyclopaedia
Britannica, n.d.; University of Adelaide, 2014). According to Jenkins (2014),
Hezbollah sent approximately a rang of 2,000 to 10,000 fighters. Besides this, Iran
also played a role in the helping of gathering Shi’a volunteers in Iraq and Lebanon to
fight against the FSA.
Jenkins also mentioned that the rebels comprised of more than a thousand
independent unites and were part of larger groups based on ideology and nominal
loyalty to one or another leader (2014). There was also Russian, Kurdish, and
Islamic State presence in Syria which all add to the complexity and violence of the
conflict in Syria.
Because of all of these groups, the conflict is difficult to resolve and according
to Encyclopaedia Britannica, (n.d.) and the University of Adelaide, (2014), attempts
on peacekeeping and mediation failed to resolve lasting peace. The civil war has no
sign of ending and according to BBC (2016); the death toll reached a height of
250,000 as of March 11, 2016 and is still on the rise.

6. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 6
Syrian Refugees Crisis
The Syrian conflict is not only a concern because of the Syrian death toll, but
also an international issue due to the increasing number of Syrians that are
displaced all over the world. As of early March 2016, there were approximately
2,715,789 Syrians who were registered refugees in Turkey, 1,067,785 in Lebanon,
and 6,39,704 in Jordan. In 2015, there were 158,657 Syrians seeking asylum, in
other words, seeking protection in Germany, more than 500,000 in Serbia, 50,909 in
Sweden, 2,659 in the UK, more than 10,000 in Greece, Bulgaria, Switzerland, France,
Belgium, (BBC, 2016).
However, even before reaching these counties, specifically in Europe, the
Syrians seeking refuge face challenges. For one, by February 12, 2016, 400 Syrian
refugees lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Despite this, over
2,000 people a day still attempt to cross the Mediterranean and risk the lives of
themselves and their family, including their children, to reach Europe (UNHCR,
2016). When and if they cross into Europe, the Syrians seeking refuge face another
difficulty. They may not have the documents needed to enter a country, for instance,
a birth certificate (UNHCR, 2015). There are also transit camps before entering a
county that the Syrians seeking refuge must go to register as a refugee, in which,
they may be stuck at these camps for days with little or no services or support
(Pearson, 2015).
Furthermore, Syrian refugees face even more hardship when and if they are
accepted into a country, while in Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Some of

7. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 7
these hardships include over crowding that creates difficulties in finding
employment, adequate housing, health services, and education.
Not every county accepts Syrian refugees into their country, According to the
Pedram, 2014, the countries that do accept the Syrians into their country face
overcrowding in hospitals and schools, an increase of unemployment and poverty
levels, a weakening of infrastructures, and an increase of social and political
instability. Countries that neighbor Syria experience over-exhaustion of their social
and health services, water, sanitation, and energy shortages. (Pedram, 2014).
All countries that accept Syrian refugees into their country can suffer from
population increase. For example, in Jordan, a county that had an open door policy with
Syrian refugees since the start of the conflict, had 600,000 Syrian refugees residing in
areas such as Amman, Irbid, and Mafraq in 2014. These areas in Jordan have existing
high poverty and unemployment rates and this population increase only further strained
the Jordanian economy (Pedram, 2014). “Medical faculties are dangerously low on
supplies and classroom space is limited; a significant portion of the Syrian population is
unable to receive schooling (The Pedram, 2014, 1). Pedram then explained further that
half of the Syrian refugees who reside in Jordan are children, one-third are women, and
the rest are mostly older man who are ill.
Due to this strain, resentment and discrimination aimed at the Syrian refugees
grew (The Pedram, 2014). For instance, in 2013, Sami al-Mugrabi, a Jordanian shop
owner told the New York Times that because of the increased economic strain due to the
Syrian refugees, a local market place has closed. He then said, “The main market has
turned into a ghost town and all that is left is resentment and anger.” He later said, “We

8. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 8
welcomed them, even in our homes, but Jordanians are suffering to find work, classrooms
are crammed, hospitals can barely cope, newlyweds can’t find homes to rent, and we no
longer feel like we should be the ones to suffer because of them.” (Sweis. 2013, para. 7 &
9). He himself used to offer the Syrian refugees tea and listen empathetically to their
stories, but not anymore (Sweis, 2013).
More examples can be found all over the news, for instance, in 2015, an estimate
of 340 attacks occurred in refugee camps located all over Germany (CNN, 2015). Thirty-
eight of those attacks where violent assaults. This was an increase of twenty-eight as
compared with the numbers of violent assaults in 2014 (CNN, 2015).
Spreading Awareness of this Issue
As one can see, the Syrian crisis is complex; it was influenced by the Arab Spring
and ultimately created a refugee crisis that is not just affecting Syrian neighbors (i.e.
Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon) but also Germany, Greece, Serbia, Hungry, Sweden, and
the list goes on. Because of this, it is important to spread awareness.
One way to do this is by presenting this issue at an event at a University/College.
In this case, both the background of the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War should be
presented to complement information about the Syrian Refugee Crisis. An event like this
can be presented by the Center for Social Work Education at Widener University with a
campus-wide audience. Yet, the target audience would be students and professors who
are part of the Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate social work programs. In addition, the
students and professors in the political science & International Relations program and the
sociology program are also the target audience. This event should be presented through
an information session, documentaries, and guest speakers.

9. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 9
It will not be possible to cover everything; it will therefore be critical to first
explain what is currently happening in Syria in a lecture format using a PowerPoint to
guide the talk. It will then be important to briefly go over the events that influenced the
Arab Spring and the event that sparked this movement. Then, it would be vital to explain
how the Civil War began and the progression of it, who were involved, and current
statistics on both the death toll and displaced citizens. Lastly, it is crucial to talk about
Syrian Refugees, the countries that they seek refuge in, the difficulties that they face
while traveling to these countries, and the challenges that they face while in that country.
It is also important to talk about the added strain that these refugees put on their host
countries.
Next, it would be ideal to show clips of documentaries about the Arab Spring, the
Syrian Civil War, and the Syrian Refuge Crises like The Arab Awakening-The End of a
Dictator, We are the Giant, and Red Lines among others to show a visual of what was
just talked about and allowing for further exploration.
After the documentaries, it may be possible to bring in a few Syrian refugees to
talk about their experiences. According to Emily Opilo (2016), on April 30, 2016, there
were Syrian Refugee families who arrived in Allentown, PA hosted by the Syrian Arab
American Charity Association. It can very much help spread awareness if a few of the
Syrian refugees could speak about their experiences before, during, and after the civil war
during this event.
Advertisement of this event would be done by putting up flyers all over Widener
University’s Chester Campus, emailing the whole student body, and using both Facebook
and other forms of social media. Regarding this, the partners of this event would be both

10. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 10
the sociology department and the department of political science and international
relations due to both the international and societal focus. Because of this, professors of
these departments listed above could also mention this event to their students.

11. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 11
Appendix A
What influenced the Arab Spring, How did it influence the Syrian Civil
War, and what is the Syrian Refugee Crisis
Come find out
Location: Alumni Auditorium
Widener University
Time: 6:00PM-9:00PM

12. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 12
This event is sponsored by the Center for Social Work Education and
partnered by the sociology department and the department of political
science and international relations
For more information, contact ghgoldman@mail.widener.edu
References
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12196679
Carbonnier, J. (2013). The Arab Spring and its different outcomes: Explaining the
variation in the state of democratization. Lund University Publications.
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Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Syrian Civil War. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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Goldstein, E. (n.d.). Before the Arab Spring, the unseen thaw. Human Rights Watch.
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/RAND_PE115.pdf

13. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 13
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The New York Times. Retrieved from

14. International Impact: Crisis in Syria 14
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