Syria Relief wants to educate the UK on Syria’s conflict
In 2011, a group of Syrians living in Manchester joined hands to start a charity. Ten years later, Syria Relief has become the biggest Syria-focused NGO in the UK.
As children of Syria, the friends formed the Manchester-based relief at the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011. Their aim was to provide emergency humanitarian aid for the region, according to the Mancunian Matters (MM).
What are some of Syria Relief’s achievement in Syria?
- Helping over 10 million people
- Conducting nearly 1,000 aid projects in Syria.
- Operating 14 hospitals and healthcare centres in Syria.
- Running 306 schools in Syria.
- Deploying 1000 workers and volunteers inside Syria and neighbouring countries.
‘Why has Britain normalised war crimes in Syria?’
In total 13.4 million Syrian people are in need of humanitarian aid and the numbers are growing every day.
In January this year a survey commissioned by the charity and conducted by YouGov revealed that only 58% of Britain are aware that the Syrian conflict is still ongoing. This is down from 77% in 2019.
I was interviewed by @MM_newsonline on the the work we do at @SyriaRelief, the humanitiaran situation in Syria and public attitudes towards it. https://t.co/yueS3W4LDS
— Charles Lawley تشارلز لاولي (@CharlesLawley) October 4, 2021
In an interview with MM, Charles Lawley, head of communications and advocacy at Syria Relief, told the website: “In the UK and the West the way we teach our history, like World War II, is through the narrative of the allies being the good guys and the Nazis being the bad guys. Syria is a multifaceted conflict; it is not a bilateral war.”
Why is the British public uninterested in the Syrian conflict?
Only 51% of people believe attacks in civilian infrastructure in Syria are deemed “newsworthy”, says MM. Lawley thinks that media has simply got bored.
He suggests that news coverage only spoke about the Syrian war when it produced high mortality rates, or when it had direct effects locally. That is when Syrian refugees were coming into Europe.
The lack of media coverage leads to lack of awareness among the people. “If it’s not being reported, how are we to know?” he said.
He added that the British media took the same approach with foreign conflicts in places such as Palestine, Afghanistan, and Myanmar.
How does lack of awareness hinder Syria Relief?
As the media stopped showing any sign of trouble in Syria, governments are less invested in its issues. The UK Government has recently proposed aid cuts to 0.5% of gross national income that could impact Syrians detrimentally.
Mr Lawley told MM: “90% of Syria are now living in extreme poverty.
“Prior to the aid cuts, the UK was the third biggest aid donor to Syria and to have 32% cut from the third biggest aid donor is going to exacerbate humanitarian needs and is going to undermine any diplomatic efforts the UK is attempting.
Nonetheless, Lawley expressed much optimism in the charity and its home city Manchester. The same city that was hailed last month as a “Northern humanitarian powerhouse.”
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