ISIS RECRUITMENT OF CHILDREN IN SYRIA

An Environmental Aspect is defined as the geography, accessibility, pollution, and exploitation of natural resources in a country or region and how this impacts a health issue within the region (Hogan).

 

Syria is in a civil war, and has been for the past six years. What this means for Syria’s environment, is that the already barren desert land of parts of Syria, is also a war zone. The areas of Syria that are not desert land are also being greatly impacted by the war and may even be worse off than the desert parts of Syria. To top it off, many air strikes that Russia and the U.S. have been taking against ISIS in Syria, are aimed at oil refineries that ISIS controls, which are also one of the main sources of income for ISIS (Zwijnenburg & Waleij).

 

What this means for the environment of Syria as well as its inhabitants is drastic. The damage that is done to the oil refineries leads to pollution in many forms, mainly consisting of air and groundwater pollution. The burning of the oil refineries releases a mix of many chemicals and compounds into the air and soil including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and even lead. All of these compounds are first released into the air before being deposited into the soil. “Groundwater contamination [then] threatens agricultural land and the people who rely on ground and surface water for irrigation, drinking, and domestic purposes” (Zwijnenburg & Waleij). Even without needing to avoid contaminated water, Syria’s desert environment that covers much of the country makes it difficult to even obtain water in the first place. In addition, places that can access water easier than the rest of the country, such as some northern/northwestern parts of Syria, are being hit by air strikes. One of the very hardest hit areas of Syria is that of Aleppo. In Aleppo, one of the main water pumping stations was recently damaged (Sept. 2016) and due to violence in the area, repairs cannot be made on the pump. The second water pumping station on the other side of the city was also shut off which has led to a lack of water for most, if not all, of the Syrian city of Aleppo (Singer).

 

One indirect consequence of all of the fighting in Syria is that the environmental governance that controls how waste is taken care of has collapsed. The result is an accumulation of waste, especially in the cities. Household waste, medical waste, and industrial waste have all accumulated, and even the burning of this waste is producing more consequences including even more unneeded groundwater pollution. The waste and pollution alone are enough to give raise to many communicable diseases within populated and unpopulated regions of Syria (Zwijnenburg, Wim and Kristine te Pas).

 

ISIS has managed to use the lack of clean water and other basic necessities that children (and adults) in Syria face and turn it into an effective way to recruit children. Without the “access to basic services … [children] … are quite vulnerable and can be easily exploited” (Montgomery). The result is children joining ISIS because they offer clean water and housing to the children (and others) if they join ISIS (Mullen).  

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The map below depicts the type of terrain that makes up Syria and how the land is utilized. It demonstrates just how much of Syria is desert or steppe land, neither or which are very useful for sustaining communities of people. The map also shows just how little of Syria is available for crops, livestock, and other agricultural uses. Much of the land that is available for these uses is rubble, as many of these areas and cities have been hardest hit by the civil war and the war against ISIS.

 

The PDF from PAX for Peace is a very informative document that describes the environmental and public health issues that have come from the conflict present in Syria. The document is very well done a suggested read to obtain more information about the environmental aspects that contribute to the ability of ISIS to recruit more men and boys alike.

 

The quote also properly sums up just how much of a health issue the conflict in Syria is having on both its children and other inhabitants.