The Militant - November 4, 2013 -- Seven million Syrians displaced in civil war

Vol. 77/No. 39 November 4, 2013

Seven million Syrians displaced in civil war

Thousands of Syrians stream across the Tigris River into Iraqi Kurdistan Aug. 15. When the Iraq Kurdistan Regional Government opened the border, 42,000 crossed in one week. Over 200,000 Kurdish refugees from Syria live there now.

An average of 5,000 Syrians are forced from their homes on a daily basis as a result of the bloody civil war and bombardment of working-class neighborhoods by forces backing the Bashar al-Assad government. A total of 7 million have been displaced, more than 2 million of whom have fled the country into neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Syrian refugees have been among the hundreds who have drowned in recent months attempting to get to Europe by boat.

This massive movement is not only uprooting and devastating the lives of Syrian toilers, but is setting uncontrolled political forces in motion throughout the region. Meanwhile, U.S. warships remain poised off the Syrian coast for possible military intervention to protect the interests of U.S imperialism.

— EMMA JOHNSON