More than 200,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State. Management of over 4 million refugees is in itself a great challenge and is likely to affect world economy.

1. Syria: The story of the conflict & Refugee Crisis
More than 200,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four years of armed conflict, which began with
anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others
have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those
opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State.
1. Uprising turns violent
Pro-democracy protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and
torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. After security
forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing several, more took to the streets.
The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad's resignation. The
government's use of force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters' resolve. By July
2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets across the country.
Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and later to
expel security forces from their local areas.
2. Descent into civil war
Violence escalated and the country descended into civil war as rebel brigades were formed to
battle government forces for control of cities, towns and the countryside. Fighting reached the
capital Damascus and second city of Aleppo in 2012.
By June 2013, the UN said 90,000 people had been killed in the conflict. However, by August
2014 that figure had more than doubled to 191,000 - and continued to climb to 220,000 by
March 2015, according to activists and the UN.
The conflict is now more than just a battle between those for or against President Assad. It has
acquired sectarian overtones, pitching the country's Sunni majority against the president's Shia
Alawite sect, and drawn in neighbouring countries and world powers. The rise of the jihadist
groups, including Islamic State, has added a further dimension.
3. War crimes
A UN commission of inquiry, investigating alleged human rights violations since March 2011,
has evidence that those on both sides of the conflict have committed war crimes - including
murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances. Government and rebel forces have also been
accused by investigators of using civilian suffering, such as blocking access to food, water and
health services, as a method war.
In February 2014, a UN Security Council resolution demanded all parties end the "indiscriminate
employment of weapons in populated areas". Since then, activists say more than 6,000 civilians
have been killed by barrel bombs dropped by government aircraft on rebel-held areas. The UN
says in some instances, civilian gatherings have been deliberately targeted, constituting
massacres.
Islamic State has also been accused by the UN of waging a campaign of terror in northern and
eastern Syria. It has inflicted severe punishments on those who transgress or refuse to accept its
rule, including hundreds of public executions and amputations. Its fighters have also carried out

2. mass killings of rival armed groups, members of the security forces and religious minorities, and
beheaded hostages, including several Westerners.
We're just living on the edge of life. We're always nervous, we're always afraid
4. Chemical weapons
Hundreds of people were killed in August 2013 after rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin
were fired at several agricultural districts around Damascus. Western powers, outraged by the
attack, said it could only have been carried out by Syria's government. The regime and its ally
Russia blamed rebels.
Facing the prospect of US military intervention, President Assad agreed to the complete removal
or destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal as part of a joint mission led by the UN and
the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The destruction of chemical
agents and munitions was completed a year later.
Despite the operation, the OPCW has since documented the use of toxic chemicals, such as
chlorine and ammonia, by the government in attacks on rebel-held northern villages between
April and July 2014 that resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people.
5. Humanitarian crisis
Almost 4 million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them women and
children. It is one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history. Neighbouring countries have
borne the brunt of the refugee crisis, with Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey struggling to
accommodate the flood of new arrivals. The exodus accelerated dramatically in 2013, as
conditions in Syria deteriorated.
A further 7.6 million Syrians have been internally displaced within the country, bringing the total
number forced to flee their homes to more than 11 million - half the country's pre-crisis
population. Overall, an estimated 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance inside
Syria, including 5.6 million children, the UN says.
In December 2014, the UN launched an appeal for $8.4bn (£5.6bn) to provide help to 18 million
Syrians, after only securing about half the funding it asked for in 2014.
A report published by the UN in March 2015 estimated the total economic loss since the start of
the conflict was $202bn and that four in every five Syrians were now living in poverty - 30% of
them in abject poverty. Syria's education, health and social welfare systems are also in a state of
collapse.
Details of refugees are as under
Turkey-1700000
Lebanon-1200000
Jordan-625000
Iraq-245000
Egypt-137000

3. Impact on regions
Largest exodus to four of the main destination countries has been from provinces that have seen
the greatest conflict.
Deraa - the starting point of the uprising - Homs and Aleppo have seen most people flee.
The ethnicity factor
The refugee registration data suggests that while the largest departures have come from regions
with strong anti-government movements, fewer Syrians have left provinces that are home to
ethnic groups regarded as government supporters.

4. 6. Rebels and the rise of the jihadists
The armed rebellion has evolved significantly since its inception. Secular moderates are now
outnumbered by Islamists and jihadists, whose brutal tactics have caused widespread concern
and triggered rebel infighting.
Capitalising on the chaos in the region, Islamic State (IS) - the extremist group that grew out of
al-Qaeda in Iraq - has taken control of huge swathes of territory across northern and eastern
Syria, as well as neighbouring Iraq. Its many foreign fighters in Syria are now involved in a "war
within a war", battling rebels and jihadists from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, who object
to their tactics, as well as Kurdish and government forces.
In September 2014, a US-led coalition launched air strikes inside Syria in an effort to "degrade
and ultimately destroy" IS, ultimately helping the Kurds repel a major assault on the northern
town of Kobane.
In the political arena, rebel groups are also deeply divided - with rival alliances battling for
supremacy. The most prominent is the moderate National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and
Opposition Forces, backed by several Western and Gulf Arab states. However, the coalition has
little influence on the ground in Syria and its primacy is rejected by other groups, leaving the
country without a convincing alternative to the Assad government.
7. Peace efforts
With neither side able to inflict a decisive defeat on the other, the international community long
ago concluded that only a political solution could end the conflict in Syria. However, a number
of attempts by the Arab League and the UN to broker ceasefires and start dialogue have failed.
In January 2014, the US, Russia and UN convened a conference in Switzerland to implement the
2012 Geneva Communique, an internationally-backed agreement that called for the
establishment of a transitional governing body in Syria formed on the basis of mutual consent.
The talks, which became known as Geneva II, broke down in February after only two rounds.
The then UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi blamed the Syrian government's refusal to discuss
opposition demands and its insistence on a focus on fighting "terrorists" - a term Damascus uses
to describe rebel groups.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the organisation's long-term strategic objective remains
a political solution based on the Geneva Communique. The UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura
has also proposed establishing a series of "freeze zones", where local ceasefires would be
negotiated to allow aid deliveries in besieged areas. But his attempt to broker a truce in Aleppo
has been rejected by rebels in the city, who fear the government will use it to redeploy its forces
elsewhere and that IS militants will simply ignore it.
8. Proxy war
What began as another Arab Spring uprising against an autocratic ruler has mushroomed into a
brutal proxy war that has drawn in regional and world powers.

5. Iran and Russia have propped up the Alawite-led government of President Assad and gradually
increased their support, providing it with an edge that has helped it make significant gains
against the rebels. The government has also enjoyed the support of Lebanon's Shia Islamist
Hezbollah movement, whose fighters have provided important battlefield support since 2013.
The Sunni-dominated opposition has, meanwhile, attracted varying degrees of support from its
main backers - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab states along with the US, UK and
France. However, the rise of hardline Islamist rebels and the arrival of jihadists from across the
world has led to a marked cooling of international and regional backing.
The US is now arming a 5,000-strong force of "moderate" rebels to take the fight to IS on the
ground in Syria, and its aircraft provide significant support to Kurdish militia seeking to defend
three autonomous enclaves in the country's north.
The disappointment caused by the West's inaction created a fertile recruiting ground for
extremists, who told those who had lost their loved ones that they were their only hope
Syria: Mapping the conflict
Territorial control in Syria has changed many times since the country's uprising began more than
four years ago, with long periods of attrition characterising the conflict.
However, there are now signs the battlefield is transforming, with extremist and Islamist groups
establishing a momentum of their own and the forces of Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, under
mounting pressure on several fronts.
Homs
Homs, Syria's third largest city, has been the scene of heavy fighting. It was dubbed the
'capital of the revolution' after residents embraced the call to overthrow the president in
early 2011 and much of the city fell under the control of the opposition. However,
government forces gradually took back areas held by rebels and in May 2014, the city
was fully regained by regime troops. Fighting continues to the east of the city between
the government, IS and other opposition forces.
Damascus
The Syrian capital and its outskirts remain a key strategic area of control. While the
regime has succeeded in using sieges and intensive air strike campaigns to negotiate
truces with various armed groups in and around the city, fighting continues between
government forces and opposition fighters. Government forces have reportedly begun
fortifying approaches to Damascus and Latakia in the north west in order to protect their
core territory.
Aleppo
Fighting broke out in Syria’s largest city in July 2012 with rebels taking control of a
number of districts. However their offensive stalled and the battle became a war of

6. attrition. The city continues to be a key battleground between Syrian government forces,
rebels and jihadists. Fighting and government air strikes have left thousands dead, and
destroyed more than 60% of the Old City, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Kobane
Kobane, a town populated by Kurds on the border with Turkey, has been one of the most
high-profile battlegrounds of the conflict. The border town was besieged by militants
from the Islamic State group (IS) in 2014. But, after months of fighting, Kurdish militia,
backed by US-led air strikes, took back control of the town in January 2015. Since then,
IS have launched a series of counter-attacks along the Turkish border, including against
Kurds in Kobane.
In recent months, Islamic State (IS) - the extremist group that grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq - has
made significant gains in the country's central corridor. At the same time, other Islamist rebel
groups - including the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front - have contributed to other advances,
such as the seizure of the provincial capital of Idlib in north-western Syria.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) predicts this renewed rebel strength will likely lead to
additional upheavals across Syria's previously stalemated battle lines in the future.
Elsewhere, primarily moderate Syrian rebels have made gains in the southern cities of Deraa and
Quneitra, where groups have remained relatively united. In June, they seized the Syrian
government's largest military base in Deraa, though this is far from the rebels' stated goal of
reaching rural Damascus.
To the north, Kurdish forces have been battling a series of deadly IS counter-attacks. The jihadist
group had, until then, suffered a series of defeats in areas along the Turkish border since being
forced to withdraw from the town of Kobane in January.
Most recently, the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) - supported by rebels and US-led
coalition airstrikes - recaptured the border town of Tal Abyad, to the east of Kobane, in June.
For the Syrian government, battling this fractured opposition has taken its toll, according to the
ISW. The regime is facing a manpower shortage and has attempted to counteract it with
conscription campaigns and an increased use of Iranian-sponsored paramilitary forces, it says.
Over the coming months, the ISW predicts that jihadist groups, such as IS and al-Nusra Front,
will gain in influence and power, while Iran - the Syrian government's strategic ally - and Saudi
Arabia - a backer of rebel forces - will escalate their involvement in Syria.
U.N. Says World Waited Too Long on Refugee Crisis
The sudden arrival in Europe of tens of thousands refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and
elsewhere, many abandoning refugee camps in Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon, has stirred sharp
disagreement between European Union countries on how to "process" and accommodate them.

7. Migrants and refugees arrive on inflatable dinghies on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing
the Aegean sea from Turkey, on September 25, 2015.
While governments such as Germany have proven more welcoming, Eastern European countries
have resisted plans for quotas to disperse refugees.
For years, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan have struggled to cope with millions of refugees from
Syria's 4-1/2-year civil war.
The United Nations high commissioner for refugees said that the world waited far too long to
respond to the refugee crisis sparked by the wars in Syria and elsewhere, though rich countries
now appear to understand the scale of the problem.
"Unfortunately only when the poor enter the halls of the rich, do the rich notice that the poor
exist," U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the
annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly.
"Until we had this massive movement into Europe, there was no recognition in the developed
world of how serious this crisis was," he said. "If, in the past, we had more massive support to
those countries in the developing world that have been receiving them and protecting them, this
would not have happened."
"The refugees are living worse and worse," he said. "They're not allowed to work, the
overwhelming majority of them live below the poverty line. It's more and more difficult for them
to have any hope in the future.
"Without peace in Syria, and without massive support to the neighboring countries ... we risk a
massive exodus" of refugees from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
He also disputed some assessments, including Hungary's, that most of the people reaching the
EU's doorsteps from the Balkans were economic migrants, not refugees who deserve protection.
Most of them are genuine refugees, he said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is convening a high-level meeting on Wednesday on the
refugee and migration crisis.
Guterres said rich countries appeared to be finally waking up.
"I think political leaders are starting to understand ... the scale of the problem and the need to
have a much stronger response, response in humanitarian aid.
"One of the reasons that refugees started to move in such big numbers was because international
assistance declined," he said, adding that Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon would need billions of
dollars in assistance to cope with the refugees.

8. U.N. Says Europe's Refugee Crisis Could Be the 'Tip of the Iceberg'
The United Nations said that it could see no easing of the flow of refugees into Europe — with
8,000 arrivals daily — and that problems now facing governments may turn out to be "the tip of
the iceberg."
"I don't see it abating, I don't see it stopping," Amin Awad, regional refugee coordinator for the
U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, told journalists in Geneva. "If anything, it gives an indication
perhaps that this is the tip of the iceberg."
Dominik Bartsch, the U.N.'s deputy humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said 10 million people
were expected to need humanitarian support by the end of the year. Some 3.2 million have
already been displaced after ISIS overran swaths of the country.
European Union leaders have pledged at least $1.1 billion for Syrian refugees in the Middle East
and closer cooperation to stem migrant flows into Europe.
The arrival of the refugees, many abandoning refugee camps in Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon after
three years or more, has stirred sharp disagreement between countries on how to process and
accommodate them. While governments such as Germany have proven more welcoming, eastern
European countries have resisted plans for quotas to disperse refugees.
Right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Vienna that after construction of a
steel fence to stop refugees entering from Serbia, migrants were now entering via Greece and the
Balkans from Croatia.
How it could be stopped "was the big question of the next few days and weeks, I am trying to
seek supporters for this," Orban told a news conference after meeting Austrian Chancellor
Werner Faymann.
Not all refugees enter via eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. In recent days, about 500
refugees per day have crossed the Finnish land border in Tornio, near the Arctic Circle, after a
long journey through central Europe and Sweden.
Finnish media reported that demonstrators had thrown stones and launched fireworks at a bus
full of asylum seekers arriving at a reception center in Lahti in southern Finland, late on
Thursday.
Between 30 and 40 protesters, one in a white robe like those worn by the white supremacist Ku
Klux Klan in the United States, waved the Finnish flag and shouted abuse at the bus.
"The Finnish government strongly condemns last night's racist protests against asylum seekers
who had entered the country," the government said in a statement. "Violence or the threat of
violence is always to be condemned."