The Unbearable Plight of Syrians
After civil war and now a natural disaster, the country’s northwest desperately needs international aid, even if it’s hard to deliver.
Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on February 8, 2023
It took one of the most powerful earthquakes in a century, but the world’s attention has finally returned to Syria, a country devastated by 12 years of civil war; divided among government, militia, and foreign powers; and home to millions of internally displaced people.
So far, most of the images of the devastation have come out of Turkey, where the 7.8-magnitude quake struck early Monday morning, followed by another quake of 7.5 magnitude. Nearly 6,000 deaths have been reported there so far. Syria’s total death toll stands at about 1,900 people. But the pain of those living in the country’s rebel-held northwest, including
