ISIS Shuts Down Schools, Depriving 670,000 Syrian Children of an Education

An estimated 670,000 children in Syria are being deprived of an education after the Islamic State (ISIS) decreed that all schools must be shut until the curriculum has been made “compliant with religious rules,” Reuters reports, citing the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

ISIS controls large swathes of territory in Syria and is known for imposing a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Schools in areas under its control in eastern Syria were shut in November, “prompting a religious revision of the curriculum.”

“In December there was a decree of the Islamic State ordering the stoppage of education in areas under its control,” UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said. The areas include Raqqa, rural areas of Deir al-Zor and Aleppo provinces. Boulierac added that teachers will be forced to undergo training to meet the requirements of ISIS.

According to UNICEF, as many as 2.4 million Syrian children are currently not enrolled in school, or attend classes irregularly, due to the conflict. At least 160 children were killed and 343 wounded in attacks on schools last year.

Syrians Now the Largest Refugee Population, Facing Dire Conditions in Winter

Syrians are now the largest refugee population aside from Palestinians, the U.N. said on Wednesday. According to the U.N., 10.8 million Syrians have fled the conflict, 3.2 million have taken refuge in neighboring countries, and another 7.6 million have been displaced within Syria.

In a speech on Tuesday, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that countries around the world need to do more to cope with the refugee crisis. He said he was concerned about Lebanon’s recent policy enforcing Syrian refugees to apply for a visa before they enter the country, but expressed sympathy for countries bearing the strain of what he described as the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Lebanon is crippling under the strain of hosting the highest-per-capita population of refugees in the world, with a quarter of its population made up of Syrian refugees.

Many refugees are living in dire circumstances and facing abject poverty as another winter approaches. The Washington Post describes the desperate conditions facing hundreds of thousands of Syrians as they prepare for the onslaught of a winter storm, with little hope of staying warm or dry.

“I’m afraid the tent will collapse on top of us. I am afraid of how cold it will get,” Umm Khalil said Tuesday. “Most of all, I’m afraid for my children.”

Last year, two Syrian babies died of exposure during one of Lebanon’s winter storms.

OPCW Offers Evidence of Chlorine Gas Attack on Rebel-Held Area

According to the third report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), “chemical weapons investigators concluded ‘with a high degree of confidence’ that chlorine gas was used as a weapon against three opposition-controlled villages in Syria last year, affecting between 350 and 500 people and killing 13,” AP reports.

The report is the most comprehensive to date regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria, but does not indicate who is responsible for the attacks. It claims that chlorine gas was used with a high degree of certainty against Syrian civilians in two villages in Idlib and one in Hama.

The effort to eradicate Syria’s chemical weapons program was initiated following a sarin gas attack in August 2013 that killed more than 1,400 civilians in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Syria’s declared chemical stockpile has since been destroyed under international supervision, but questions linger about whether the country still has chemical agents. The Syrian government has denied it used chemical weapons or chlorine gas during the conflict, placing the blame on “terrorist groups.”

Recommended Reads

• Al Jazeera: Report Reaffirms Syria Chemical Weapons Use
• The Washington Post: Syrian Refugees Face New Misery as Winter Storms Descend
• Reuters: Senior ISIS ‘Police’ Official Beheaded in Syria Says Monitoring Group
• BBC: Syria Crisis: A New Year Without Hope
• Agence France Presse: U.S. Investigating Civilian Deaths in Syria, Iraq Strikes
• BBC: Profile: Khaled Khoja, Syria Opposition Chief
• The National: Syria Facing ‘Medical Disaster’ as Eradicated Diseases Return
• Reuters: West’s Islamic State Focus Neglects Human Tragedy in Syria, Doctors Say
• Deutsche Welle: IS to Turn Syria Schools into Religious Indoctrination Centers
• Agence France Presse: World Losing Capacity to Prevent Conflicts amid ‘Mega-Crises’ in Iraq and Syria: U.N. Refugee Chief Antonio Guterres
• Reuters: Islamic State School Closures in Syria Affect 670,000: U.N.

Photo Courtesy of AP Images