The New Humanitarian welcomes new CEO Ebele Okobi.

Find out more
  1. Home
  2. Middle East and North Africa

Roundup: Syria’s grim anniversary

A collection of our reporting in Syria as the war enters yet another year with no real end in sight.

Peter Biro/ECHO
Children at Jordanian side of the no man's land camp of Rukban

Syria enters its tenth year of war this week, as a fragile ceasefire in the northwest appears to hold – at least for now – but with nearly a million newly displaced people still stuck in limbo, real peace seems as far away as ever.

Protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime broke out in March 2011. Since the violent crackdown that ensued, the dynamics of the groups fighting the bloody conflict – and the situations of the civilians suffering – have shifted multiple times.

The latest government-led offensive in and around the northwestern province of Idlib caused so many people to flee at pace that it’s been hard for aid workers to reach everyone

The battles in the northwest have killed civilians and decimated hospitals, but this week’s grim anniversary is a reminder that Syrians have been suffering for nine full years now. While counting the casualties in a warzone is always a fraught exercise, and the UN stopped trying several years ago, the available estimates give some scale of the massive death toll. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the number of people killed since March 2011 at more than 380,000, including over 115,000 civilians, while the Violations Documentation Center in Syria, which is registered as a nonprofit in Switzerland but says most of its team remains in Syria, has documented more than 215,000 battle-related deaths, including nearly 130,000 civilians. 

Whatever the exact number, the long war has taken a massive toll, as nearly 5.6 million people fled Syria and became registered refugees, and another 6.1 million remain displaced within the country’s borders. Syrians have often struggled to find adequate and shelter, and found themselves the targets of bombs and guns.

From camps to sieges and convoys to airdrops, The New Humanitarian has been reporting on the impact of the war on Syria’s people since its outset. Here is a look back at some of our coverage:

UNICEF says more than half a million children are among those forced to flee their homes in the last three months.

First Person: Reporting Idlib, from a home under fire

One Syrian photojournalist on what it’s like to document Idlib’s catastrophe as it closes in around him.

Rosa Nabu and her family fled the border town of Ras al-Ayn, and have found refuge in the largely abandoned Assyrian Christian town of Tel Nasri.

In Syria’s latest exodus, local citizens become frontline aid workers

When people ran to escape a Turkish invasion into the northeast, they took shelter wherever they could find it. Regular people pitched in to come to their aid.

Fleeing the last days of Islamic State in Syria

As the extremist group collapsed, thousands of people poured out of the group’s last stronghold in Syria. Many were in serious need of food and medical care.

As Syria looks to rebuild, US and Europe hope money can win where guns lost

As the war dragged on, much of Syria was broken and economically decimated. But talk of reconstruction remained controversial.

US probe into Turkey-Syria aid corruption deepens

An investigation into corruption in aid delivery across the Turkey-US border involved major NGOs and led to funding suspensions.

No way out: How Syrians are struggling to find an exit

Hundreds of thousands of people were now gathering at Syria’s northern border with Turkey, hoping to cross. It wasn’t the first time they had found their options for escape extremely limited.

SARC ambulance Homs, Syria

Aleppo is screwed. Thanks everyone.

Six months before President Bashar al-Assad’s forces retook Aleppo in late 2016, civilians were under siege, and the aid community was divided with its credibility under fire.

Children at Jordanian side of the no-man's-land camp of Rukban

Syrians trapped in desert no man’s land

In late 2015, desperate Syrians began to arrive at a dusty space between Syria and Jordan, hoping to cross the border. By June the next year 60,000 people were camped out there with little help; some remain there to this day.

Overnight in Jordan’s Za’atari camp

The view from a refugee camp in the war’s early years, as hundreds of people arrived daily, bringing with them stories of the horror they left behind.

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join