For the United Nations and other humanitarian relief workers, the elation that followed the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been quickly overtaken by the grim reality of aiding a traumatized country that witnessed 500,000 killed in more than a decade of civil war, and which remains militarily torn at the seams.
The Syrian rebel’s lightning march on Damascus may have added as many as a million displaced Syrians to a population of 3.5 million homeless in northern Syria alone. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have crossed the border into Syria, testing whether it’s safe to return to their homes.
The de facto authority in Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is on a U.N. Security Council list of sanctioned terrorist organizations. Making matters worse, some 90% of the Syrian population is living in poverty, winter is settling in, and the U.N. relief agency claims they are short on cash.
About the author
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
