Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The only people feeling the consequences of the Syrian conflict are the refugees

What will the consequences be for the latest chemical weapons attack in Syria? Currently everyone is accusing everyone else, but doing very little. The United States says Russia is covering for President Assad. Turkey is accusing the United States of ‘calculations against’ Turkey, Iran and maybe Russia too. So a war of words, but no consequences for Assad, once again.

The lack of consequences are all too clear for the refugees still crammed into camps in the countries surrounding their war-torn home. I visited one housing 9,500 Syrians by the Euphrates in Turkey in December, and the most striking thing was not so much the size of the camp, but how permanent everything felt.

There have been so many words and so few consequences over the past seven years that the camp’s kindergarten now hosts children who were born there and have known no other home.

Isabel Hardman
Written by
Isabel Hardman
Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

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