As conflict escalates in Syria, the number of refugees in Lebanon and Jordan continue to rise as well as displaced individuals inside Syria itself. More than 950,000 Syrians are registered as refugees or are awaiting registration in neighboring countries and 2.5 million are refugees within Syria itself, according to the State Department.
Currently, the U.S. spends $385 million in humanitarian assistance for people affected by continuing conflict.
The refugee conditions in Lebanon and Jordan are quite different. In Lebanon, most refugees live in homes and villages, but in Jordan, most refugees live in camps.
Having refugee camps allows Jordan to keep track of refugees coming in and, more importantly, to ensure that they are getting humanitarian aid.
In Jordan, there are close to 500,000 refugees and in Lebanon the number is even higher, according to Amal Mudallali, an expert on Syria and the Middle East at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
The number of Syrians seeking refuge since the beginning of this year rose nearly 40 percent as the fighting has escalated.
As more Syrians move into Lebanon, Mudallali said this is putting strain on the economies of both countries. In the last two years, tension has been building between local residents and Syrian refugees as both are fighting for scarce jobs and resources.
In Lebanon, the situation is even more complicated because the political system is based on a sectarian power sharing formula and as more Sunni Syrians enter the country, the Christians and Shiites are getting more nervous. They are worried about a change in sectarian balance in the country.
In the last two years, the United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 Syrians have been killed since conflict began, according to a State Department report. The Syrian insurgency started after protests against the Assad government in March 2011. The protests grew nationwide and became part of Arab Spring, a larger Middle-Eastern movement to oust power through non-violent and violent demonstrations.
The Syrian Army was ordered to open fire on the demonstrators, which escalated the tension. It formed local groups, known as Syrian Opposition Coalition, that wants to overthrow the regime.
The U.S. currently supplies around $115 million in nonlethal support to the Syrian opposition to expand delivery of goods and services and for administrative functions of security and communication, according to the State Department.
Britain is supplying armored vehicles, body armor and communication supplies to the opposition, according to the BBC.
Mudallali said if the U.S. intervenes militarily in Syria it would “complicate an already complicated situation further.”
“The Syrian opposition is calling for arms that can change the balance of power on the ground,” Mudallali said. “They are frustrated that the U.S. has not accepted to do so.”
She said the Syrian opposition is correct for believing that the only way the Assad government will relinquish power and accept transition to a new government is when it realizes they have lost control of the country.
The United States and Russia have agreed to peace talks to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement early May that she was in support of these peace talks and that the brutal nature of this conflict makes international efforts to halt the bloodshed “imperative”.
