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Syrian Comics Name:______Teaching with the News Online Resource 1 Overview: The Civil & in

Instructions: Read the text and key terms that follow. Underline at least three facts that are new to you. Write a question mark by a fact, idea, or term that you have a question about.

yria is a in the Eastern Mediterra- that are different from those of the Sunni Mus- Snean. It is bordered by to the north, lim majority. During the , various Muslim to the east, and to the south, groups within Syria led uprisings against the and to the southwest. After Assad regime, but they were violently sup- War I, this entire region was divided between pressed by the army. The regime became more Britain and , who were victors in the repressive in the aftermath of these uprisings. war. France took over Syria and managed it as Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria until his death though it was a colony, setting up local gov- in 2000, when he was succeeded by his son, ernments that the French could control. The Bashar. While Bashar al-Assad was initially French used a “divide and rule” strategy to more open to political groups that his father make it less likely that would be able had suppressed, his government continued to to unite and resist French rule. France created brutally repress any kind of dissent. within Syria that emphasized existing religious, ethnic, and regional differences. This Why did break out in Syria? fragmentation laid the groundwork for conflict When Syrians organized protests during that continues in Syria today. the in 2011, Assad’s government responded with a violent crackdown. After a How did the Assad family bloody confrontation between protesters and come to power in Syria? security forces in 2011, demonstrations For the two decades following spread nationwide over the following months. II, the newly independent Syria was politically Protesters denounced government corruption unstable. Civilian government was interrupted by a series of military coups in which military leaders took control of the country. In 1970, in the fi- nal coup, defense minister Hafez al-Assad overthrew the existing government and established an authori- tarian military regime that maintained tight control over Syrian society. The Assad family is from the Alawite sect of Shi’i . have historically been a minor- ity of Syria’s population and somewhat alienated from the rest of Syrian society. They live mostly in rural areas of Syria and fol- syriana2011 (CC BY 2.0) low beliefs and traditions Syrians protest in the city of Douma, April 24, 2011.

The Choices Program ■ Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University ■ www.choices.edu Syrian Refugee Comics Name:______Teaching with the News Online Resource 2 and demanded an end to the dictatorship of their control beyond territories in northern President Bashar al-Assad. Government forces and western Syria, taking the of entered provinces where protests were taking . place, in some cases replacing local governors Over the next two years, civil war engulfed with national troops in order to crush the dem- Syria as various rebel groups fought each other onstrations. while also battling government forces. West- In 2012, a coalition of opposition activists ern , along with U.S. allies in the formed, called Coalition for Syr- , intervened militarily to counter ian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. This ISIS, while and lent support to the coalition was formally recognized by the United Syrian government. With international back- States, Britain, France, Turkey, and Persian Gulf ing, Syrian government troops recaptured the countries as the “legitimate representative” capital of Aleppo in 2016. Despite of the Syrian people. Opposition to the Assad several rounds of attempted peace talks regime was fragmented. The coalition of moder- brokered by foreign countries and the United ate rebel groups confronted Islamic extremist Nations, fighting continues. groups vying for power, as well as Kurdish forces trying to create an independent state How has the conflict affected along the Turkish . the lives of Syrians? The six-year civil war has killed hundreds How has the international community of thousands of people. The ongoing been involved in the conflict? and destruction have led to a massive refugee In 2012, after the Assad regime threatened crisis, as millions of Syrians have fled their to use chemical weapons against rebel forces, country to seek safety and access to basic the and Britain began to provide services. The Refugee Agency to the moderate rebel groups. This support estimated that there were 5,233,712 registered was suspended after a year, when it became ap- Syrian living outside of Syria at the parent that Islamist rebels had seized the bases end of September 2017. An additional seven of the moderate rebel army. (The most extreme million Syrians have been internally dis- of rebels are from the placed (forced to flee their homes and relocate of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, a terrorist organiza- within the country). The has tion that formed after the U.S. invasion of Iraq displaced more than half of the entire Syrian in 2003.) By 2014, ISIS militants had extended population. Mark Garten, UN Photo # 537293 Syrian refugees in the Za’atari in Jordan, December 7, 2012. The camp, near Syria’s southern border, opened in 2012 and by August 2017 was home to over eighty thousand Syrians displaced by the civil war. The camp includes twenty-nine schools that together enroll over twenty thousand Syrian children.

The Choices Program ■ Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University ■ www.choices.edu Syrian Refugee Comics Name:______Teaching with the News Online Resource 3 Key Terms

Refugee: A person who leaves his or her Internally displaced person (IDP): A per- country due to a well-founded fear of perse- son who is forcibly uprooted within his or her cution because of his or her race, religion, country but who has not crossed an interna- , political views, or membership in a tional border. IDPs may be forced from their particular social group. People fleeing conflicts home as a result of armed conflict, are also generally considered to be refugees since rights violations, or natural or human-made they are seeking refuge (safety). Refugees have disasters, yet remain in their country. specific rights and protections under interna- Consulate: The office where a consul tional law. For example, refugees have the right works. A consul is an official appointed by a to not be forced to return to the unsafe situa- government to live in a foreign city and protect tion that they fled. Refugees have the rights of the government’s citizens and interests there. security and freedom of movement. They have the right to keep their family together. Similarly, Smuggle: To move goods or people some- countries that have refugees seeking asylum in where secretly, usually violating a rule or law. their territory have specific responsibilities un- Deport: To force someone to leave a coun- international law for the treatment of those try, usually because they are from another refugees. country and have not been granted permission Migrant: A person who moves to a for- by the host country’s government to live there. eign country for various reasons—such as Repression: The act of restraining someone employment, education, or to reunite with fam- or something by force. Undemocratic govern- ily—usually for a year or more. Unlike refugees, ments often repress political dissent (people migrants do not face a direct threat of perse- speaking out against the government through cution or death in their home country. Before protest or other kinds of expression) in order leaving their home country, migrants may be to maintain their authority. able to seek information about their destination, Arab Spring: A series of popular upris- explore employment opportunities, and plan ings against authoritarian governments that their travel. occurred in Arab countries across the Middle Host country: The country to which a refu- East and in the early months of gee relocates. 2011. In mass demonstrations ranging from Asylum: Shelter or protection from danger thousands to millions of people, protesters granted by a country to someone forced to leave called for democratic reforms, greater eco- their home country. nomic opportunity, and an end to abuses. In some countries, the uprisings : A person who has moved led to a change in government after a period of across international borders in search of protec- fighting between rebel and government forces. tion and filed a claim for asylum with the host For example, in rebel forces overthrew country’s government. While the government a dictator, , who had ruled reviews the claim, the person remains an asylum the country for decades. In other countries, the seeker. If the claim is accepted, the person be- existing government remained in power. For comes a “refugee” in the eyes of the government. example, in , the government violently For example, someone from Syria who is living crushed the protests. In Syria, the conflict in and waiting to hear the outcome of turned into a civil war that continues today. his or her asylum application would be consid- ered an asylum seeker.

The Choices Program ■ Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University ■ www.choices.edu