A four-year drought in Syria is devastating rural communities that rely on farming and is forcing them to migrate to cities, wire services reported Tuesday (June 22nd).
The World Food Programme distributed emergency aid to 200,000 people in rural areas most affected by the drought. In northeast Syria, "the situation is really bad", said Selly Muzammil, a WFP official in Damascus.
The UN estimates that about 1 million people left for urban centres looking for work.
The drought remains in place as the government begins to phase out subsidies on basic items, resulting in higher prices.
The government should encourage villagers to continue living and working on their lands. It must try to provide them with the necessities of life there, to maintain the balance. Villages cannot be eradicated, and their inhabitants cannot all move to the cities, which would become overcrowded. This would have a negative impact, because there would be an increase in the demand for all things such as work, housing and other things. The migration of villagers will make the country lose its balance. In fact, the problem of the drought could be addressed by launching a project to deliver water and revive the villages again, to halt this exodus and prevent the extinction of life and nature in these rural areas.
Villagers did not find any solution to get rid of the drought that hit their areas. So they decided to leave their farmlands and villages where they grew up and lived, and go to the city to settle there and search for job opportunities to earn a living. In fact, the situation in the villages has become unbearable due the drought and lack of water, be it drinking water or irrigation water for their produce. Indeed, a lot of crops that they have planted have died, causing heavy losses, which ravaged the villagers who live on agriculture and benefit from it. The government has not looked for any solution to put an end to the drought and deliver water. That is why villagers have left their lands and homes for the city.
There is a real migration which is ever increasing, by the families that inhabit the villages. This is due to the many problems, mainly water, which is scarce, and their green lands, which have become dry. Thus, they can no longer earn a living in their villages, so many families have moved to the city to start a new life, the life of the bustling city, which is totally different from their lives in the village. In fact, once drought hits one region, it signals the end. That is why people who lived out in the country have abandoned their villages and moved to the city, believing that they would find better job opportunities. Here comes the role of the government, which in fact is neglected, and consists in dealing with this issue and trying to deliver water to areas that were hit by drought, in order to revive them so they will become suitable for cultivation and dwellings. In fact, it is difficult for country dwellers to settle in the city, because it is significantly different from the villages in terms of traditions, customs and work. Therefore, the government has to take the issue seriously and try to eradicate drought and bring back life to the villages that are part of the traditions and heritage.
Al-Qaeda's regular sources of funding seem to be disappearing after the death of Osama bin Laden an...
Join the discussion
#comment#