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SYRIA: THE STORY OF THE CONFLICT
More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in fourand- a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a fullscale 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 so-called Islamic State.
Humanitarian Crisis
More than 4.5 million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them women and children. Neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history. About 10% of Syrian refugees have sought safety in Europe, sowing political divisions as countries argue over sharing the burden.
A further 6.5 million people are internally displaced inside Syria, 1.2 million were driven from their homes in 2015 alone.
The UN says it will need $3.2bn to help the 13.5 million people, including 6 million children, who will require some form of humanitarian assistance inside Syria in 2016. About 70% of the population is without access to adequate drinking water, one in three people are unable to meet their basic food needs, and more than 2 million children are out of school, and four out of five people live in poverty.
The warring parties have compounded the problems by refusing humanitarian agencies access to civilians in need. Up to 4.5 million people in Syria live in hard-to-reach areas, including nearly 400,000 people in 15 besieged locations who do not have access to life-saving aid.
RODGERS, Lucy, et al. Syria: the story of the conflict. Disponível em:<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middleeast- 26116868>. Acesso: 05 out. 2016.
The sentence “More than 4.5 million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them women and children.” means
