The Middle East: A Death Valley for Humans

Beirut bombings sign that war is spreading into Lebanon. Poor weather conditions affect refugees throughout the region. Syrian refugees reach 1 million. Thousands of refugees pour into Iraq. Beirut bombings sign that war spreading into Lebanon. Jordan refuses entry to Syrians Riots in Za’atari camp. These are a few of the many headlines that we have encountered in the newspapers and on the internet in the past few months.

The Middle East and North Africa region continues to face multiple and complex emergency situations on an unprecedented scale, that are likely to pose further overwhelming challenges in the year ahead. The question of the hour is “is this potentially leading to a third world war?” the answer is rather ambiguous.

According to a statistical report by the UNITED NATIONS REFUGEE AGENCY, the humanitarian situation in Syria remains extremely challenging. In the fourth year of the conflict, there are more than 3 million Syrian refugees in the region, In addition to over 50,000 Syrians who have sought asylum in more than 90 countries outside the region.

1.8 million people were displaced by insecurity in Iraq.The security situation in Libya is increasingly volatile , the situation is rather getting out of control with the influx of refugees from the other regions and with bombings in different sections of the region  with at least 140,000 Libyans displaced within the country by recent fighting.

Yemen continues to face a complex humanitarian situation characterized by ongoing insecurity, localized conflicts, water scarcity and the extreme poverty of growing numbers of the population. In addition, Yemen hosts 246,000 registered refugees, 95 per cent of whom are Somalis. Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, and Sweden are making significant efforts to accept asylum seekers. Spain is focusing  on preventing Syrian asylum seekers from staying in the country. Bulgaria, Greece and Italy are helping to provide with the flood for refugees and migrants arriving on their shores, receiving little support from the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, arrivals in Europe are low in comparison with countries bordering on conflict zones.

But not everyone is silent in this matter. Many celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Jeremy Renner visited the camps themselves and not only provided financial support but also spent time with them Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012 after campaigning for girls’ rights to education, added: “On behalf of the world’s children, I demand of our leaders to invest in books instead of bullets.”Books, not bullets, will pave the path toward peace and prosperity. Our voices will continue to get louder and louder until we see politicians and our governments invest in the education of their youth rather than military and war.”

This is more than enough evidence to prove that this crisis is likely to transform into the 3rd world war. In some parts , war  like situation has already arisen.Thus, the inference can be considered as quite redeeming in the context of humanity. No one today actually knows what peace is. If it doesn’t happen to you, it doesn’t mean its not happening. For all the dead, exploited and suffering crushed under the factions of different countries, may their soul rest in peace.