The Syrian Refugee Crisis

Syrian Refugee Crisis- How did we get here and what should we do now?

Its only now coming into the Australian public conscience that there is a refugee crisis in Syria. The war that caused this crisis started in 2011 within the context of the Arab Spring. However there is a wider context which should inform Australia's reaction.

From Rome to the Ottomans

Here is a map of the region in 1914. You'll notice that there is no Syria. The whole area of modern Syria was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. In fact no matter how far back into history you go, you won't find the state of Syria. You will find the area of Syria held by the Mamluks, Ayyubid, French, English and the Romans.

Anzac Day 1915

During WWI the Ottoman Turks aligned themselves with the Germany and Austria-Hungary. Winston Churchill conceived of a plan to knock the Ottoman Turks out of the war. So on April 25 1915 Allied forces landed on the Gallipolli Peninsula in Turkey.

A British led local campaign was also started against Ottoman holings in the Levant. This campaign was made famous by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia).

Australian forces were also involved in another campaign, winning a famous victory at Beersheba and peeling it off the Ottoman Empire (the charge of the Light Horsemen).

Faced with this kind of pressure both to their Imperial holdings and to their homeland the Ottomans fell back. The British and the French were very keen to gain a foothold in this area. Britain in particular had decided the oilfields of Mesopotamia (Iraq) would benefit from British rule especially.

Treaty of Versailles

At the end of the war Syria and Lebanon were given to France. The border between Syria and Iraq was layed down arbitrarily. The border took no account of the local populace's needs, only the needs of France and Britain were considered. People were cut off from one another in the same way that Berliners were when the Berlin wall went up.

France Breaks the Deal

In 1936 France and Syria negotiated a treaty of independence, however France refused to ratify it. This didn't stop the Syrians, who duly elected a President. The momentum for a free and Democratic Syria was building.

WWII

Syria passed to Vichy France in 1940. It was then re-occupied in 1941 by the British and Free French forces during WWII. Sadly the French forces had no intention of leaving.

A Difficult Birth

The French forces bombed Damascus and tried to arrest the democratically elected leaders of Syria in may 1945. However world opinion had turned and on 24 October 1945 The United Nations was ratified with Syria as a founding member. This is the founding date of the Syrian Republic. Remember that France, Syria's last colonial power fought tooth and nail every step of the journey\ towards independence, but happily was unable to stop the founding of the Syrian nation.

United Arab Republic

Syria joined with Egypt in 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. Egypt President Gamal Abdul Nassar was extremly popular for standing up to Britain and was advocating for a Pan Arab identity and nation. The national merger was ratified by popular referendum. However this experiment did not work as intended. It was brought to a halt in 1961 when disgruntled army officers enguaged in Coup D'etat to bring back the Syrian Republic. This pan arab failure, was self inflicted.

Self Inflicted Injuries

The 1960's were a tumultuous time in Syrian affairs. Their were military coups in 1961, 1963, 1966 and 1970. This final Coup was instituted by Hafez Al-Assad. His son Bashar Al-Assad is president of Syria to this day.

One Party State

Hafez Al-Assad instituted a one party state. He promoted people of his own ethnicity (alawite) in the intelligence agency. By doing this the Alawites could dominate the Sunni's approx 70% of the population with 15% approx Shia. A mirror image of Saddam Husseins Iraq. Al Assad's regime was brutal, but it did provide stability in a nation that needed it.

George Bush

In 2003 George W Bush's USA invaded Iraq. There actually were 4 nations who provided troops. The USA, The UK, Australia and Poland. The invasion was nominally to disarm Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, but in truth it was a campaign to defeat Saddam Hussein and gain access to the same oil fields that the UK had coveted 85 years before. A third stated objective was to plant a western style democracy in the middle east.

Win The War But Lose The Peace

The Alliance had no problem brushing aside the forces of Saddam Hussein s Iraq. However, once the Alliance held the nation it was difficult thing to control it. As Saddam Hussein knew only too well, Iraq was a disparate set of peoples, who had no real bond to remain together in a nation. It could only be held down by violence and fear. Soon the country erupted into chaos.

ISIS in Iraq

Iraq was held down by the Sunni minority. Some 30% or so of the population controlled the other 70%. when the USA implemented a voting republic, it failed to conceive the danger. The majority Shiites formed by far the largest group in the Iraqi Parliament and elected the President. The Shiite President was unable to work with the Sunni's. Being in the minority, the Sunni's worried that it was only a matter of time until the Shiites (whom they had ruled since the treaty of Versailles) turned on them and committed genocide. This is the catalyst which makes ISIS so dangerous, they feel if they lose, they will be wiped out.

Back to Syria

Remember those borders between states laid down in 1919? When Syria was running smoothly, it could still manage to keep the undesirables out. But then the Arab Spring happened. Suddenly the majority Sunni's were marching on the streets. The government cracked down hard. The reason was simple and logical. They knew they were the minority and they believed that if they allowed the majority to rule there might well be a genocide committed on them. That's why chemical weapons were used so early in the conflict. It also destroyed Syria's capability to keep the border closed to the warriors of the civil war in Iraq.

Unification

So we had a minority Sunni militia fearing genocide in Iraq (ISIS) and we had a majority Sunni militia who had been the target of WMD's in Syria. We also had a porous border between the 2 nations so that the 2 wars unified into one enormous CLUSTERFUCK.

Back to the Original Question

So how are we in Australia to react to the refugee crisis erupting out of Syria now. Well I'd suggest some self reflection for a start. I would suggest that we have been used by the dominate empires of the day in their empire building. However, some nations seem to have a special responsibility to the Syrian people today.

Debt of Empire - France

France really should be taking a larger amount of the refugees. From 1920 until 1950 France fought for the right to exploit the Syrian people and land for it's resources. Now is the time to pay that debt.

Debt of Stupidity – USA

What in God's name George W Bush and his idiotic VP Dick Cheney thought they would accomplish when they invaded Iraq and de-stabilised the whole region will be a question that vexes historians thousands of years from now. The debt of stupidity has come due. It's time for the USA to pay through showing it's humanity, not its engines of war. 

Debt of Ages – Turkey

I would say that Turkey owes Syria a great deal and it's time to pay up, but then look at the nation doing the heavy lifting here.....

Debt of Enabling – Britain

Britain helped France in peeling Syria away from the Ottoman Empire. It also helped the USA in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A special mention for the nation who sent in soldiers in to take over Iraq in 1920 and then sent their great grandsons and daughters back there in 2003. Learning nothing in the preceding 83 years. This crisis comes at a time when Britain is troubled by isolationist ratbags(some of them in the government), but humanity needs to prevail and the debt needs to be paid.

Debt of Fear

Australia has meddled in middle eastern affairs almost since federation. A nation on the far side of the world, we fought hard to open up Syria for western plunder. We campaigned in Palestine, Turkey and Iraq for oil Britain and the USA. Why did we do this? Ultimately I think we did it because we were afraid of the world without our big protector, so were always at their beck and call. It's a shame we are so afraid, but also means we owe Syria. Suffering from a leader who makes George Bush look like Albert Einstein whether humanity will prevail here is definitely an open question.