Factbox: The cost of ten years of devastating war in Syria
Send a link to a friend
[May 26, 2021]
AMMAN (Reuters) - What started as
peaceful protests against President Bashar al Assad's rule in Syria has
spiralled into a decade-old multi-sided conflict that has sucked in
neighbours and world powers and caused the largest displacement crisis
since World War Two.
As Assad prepares for a fourth term in office, here is a summary of the
human and financial cost of the conflict according to data from United
Nations bodies, international NGOs and Syrian civil society groups.
THE HUMAN TOLL:
*Death count and detainee estimates:
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), which has been documenting
the war from outside Syria and briefs UN agencies, has documented
227,749 civilians who were killed from March 2011 until now. This figure
includes only documented civilian deaths, while researchers estimate
another 250,000 combatants from all sides have also been killed.
The figures are broadly in line with estimates by rights groups and U.N-commissioned
investigators. They say Syrian and Russian bombing and Iran-backed
militias were responsible for the bulk of civilian deaths.
Syria's prisons hold tens of thousands of detainees. Many have been
arbitrarily detained for participating in peaceful protests or for
expressing dissenting political opinion, according to Human Rights Watch
and Amnesty International.
SNHR has documented 149,361 political detainees, of whom 101,678 remain
missing. Those figures match estimates by groups such as Human Rights
Watch and Amnesty.
*Refugees and Displacement:
Half the Syrian population, which stood at 23 million at the start of
the conflict, have been forced to flee their homes, U.N. bodies say.
Of those, 5.5 million are living as refugees in the region, mostly in
Turkey, the UN's refugee body UNHCR says. Hundreds of thousands more are
scattered across 130 countries, while 6.7 million have been displaced
inside the country, including an estimated 2.5 million children.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND HARDSHIP:
*Losses:
The U.N's ESCWA agency estimated physical capital destruction at $117.7
billion and the economic damage in terms of lost GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) at $324.5 billion - putting the cost of the conflict at about
$442.5 billion.
[to top of second column]
|
Smoke rises from the besieged Eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria,
February 27, 2018. REUTERS/ Bassam Khabieh
The report also cites official data which showed by the end of 2018
real GDP had lost 54% of its pre-conflict level.
The World Bank has estimated cumulative GDP losses from 2011 to 2016
at $226 billion and warned that the longer the conflict lasts, the
more difficult recovery will be as losses become more persistent
over time.
*Battered economy:
Syria's economy is in its worst state since the start of the
conflict and economists say the challenge is to stop it
deteriorating further. Many industrialists have fled to Turkey,
Lebanon and Jordan.
In the past year alone, the Syrian pound has lost three quarters of
its value while the cost of food and essential items has rocketed by
more than 200%, according to the World Bank.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made an already dire situation worse,
analysts say.
Syrians have suffered a dramatic reduction in purchasing power and
rising levels of debt, leaving millions incapable of putting food on
the table and meeting their basic needs.
*Poverty and worsening conditions:
Today, over 13 million Syrians require humanitarian and protection
assistance and almost 90% of the population lives in poverty,
according to U.N. and Western relief agencies.
U.K. based aid group World Vision International said this year a
child's life expectancy in Syria has been reduced by 13 years.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; editing by Maha El Dahan and
Dominic Evans)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |