Ahmed Hussen, the Canadian Minister for International Development, and MP Omar Alghabra recently travelled to Syrian border areas in Türkiye, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to discuss international cooperation and humanitarian assistance in relation to Syria. In an interview with CBC Radio on January 14, Hussen stated that Canada wishes to “foster a more stable and peaceful Syria” and announced that 17.25 million CAD would be sent for strictly humanitarian purposes to respond to the “urgent needs” of the people of Syria.
The humanitarian situation in Syria is dire, with 90 per cent of the Syrian population reliant on humanitarian aid. While former president Assad fled the country and his repressive regime fell on December 8, the accumulated damages have scarred the country and its population. These “scars” of the regime are quite literal, as at least 28 per cent of Syrians today live with a disability, a physical mark of the horrors of civil war and of the violent repression under Assad. 12.9 million Syrians faced food insecurity in 2024, with millions more facing acute food insecurity. 85 per cent of Syrian families struggle to meet ends, leaving 7.5 million children desperate for humanitarian aid.
Since the beginning of the civil conflict in 2011, 14 million Syrians have been “internally displaced,” forced to flee the country and leave their homes, belongings, and sometimes even family behind. Syria constitutes the world’s largest refugee crisis: while 115,000 Syrians have returned to their homeland since Assad’s fall, over 5 million Syrians live in neighbouring countries like Türkiye or Jordan, and 850,000 Syrian refugees have found sanctuary in Germany, the largest non-Arab hosting country. The rebel fighting in northwestern Syria in late 2024, which ultimately led to the downfall of the Assad regime, added a million internally displaced people (IDPs).
Syria also continues to face the repercussions of the devastating 2023 earthquakes. The disaster caused mass destruction – debris estimated to have a volume of around 100 million cubic meters – decimating northern Syria’s infrastructure and killing over 50,000 people in both Syria and Türkiye.
It is in this context that calls for help have risen across the world Montreal’s Centre Culturel Syrien (CCS): calls for humanitarian assistance on their website encourage donations to “alleviate the suffering of Syrians in need.” Montrealers of Syrian background, interviewed by CBC after the fall of Assad, remain optimistic for the future, even though they admit that there is much to do for the situation to truly resolve. Faisal Alazam, director of the Syrian Kids Foundation, believes that “members of the diaspora have to do their part.” Perhaps the efforts of the Syrian diaspora in Canada contributed to Ahmed Hussen’s efforts in funding humanitarian aid.
Hussen’s humanitarian aid funding will be distributed among what he has described as “trusted humanitarian partners” on the ground in Syria – namely UN agencies, international non-governmental organizations, and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. These funds will provide for the urgent needs of Syrians, granting access to clean water, distributing food, rebuilding infrastructure, and investing in sanitary and health equipment. Canada has promised to prioritize the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable, investing in missions or even protection services defined by Global Affairs Canada as the “prevention, mitigation of and response to gender-based violence.”
As the media today focuses on the most exciting topic of the moment, abandoning important issues for the lack of visibility they trigger, because a sensational story provokes more “clicks”, maintaining awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Syria is as important as it is complicated. The efforts of members of the Montreal Syrian community, embodied by the Centre Culturel Syrien or student associations like the Syrian Students Association of McGill, contribute to maintaining awareness and thus prolonging the call for help.
Overall, if Syria is to “emerge from the dark era of persecution of the Assad regime,” as Hussen hopes, and rebuild after years of destruction, humanitarian help is critical.