Syria's deepening humanitarian crisis: By the numbers

Between the civil war, winter weather, and global indifference, Syria is rapidly sliding toward disaster

Little Amjad Al-Saleh, whose family fled their home in September, is comforted by his mother after suffering food poisoning.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Nobody, it seems, was impressed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's speech on Sunday laying out his plan to end the bloody 22-month conflict pitting Assad's government against armed rebels trying to topple him. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dismissed Assad's proposal as a thinly veiled effort to stay in power, and the U.S. State Department said the speech shows that Assad is "detached from reality." But the unpalatable reality, says Simon Tisdall at Britain's The Guardian, is that "Assad is still in power, shows no sign of heeding demands to quit, and is far from beaten," and Syrians are paying the price. That price, according to the U.N., is a huge and growing humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by fuel shortages and a lack of aid organizations able to work in the country. A look at Syria's deepening disaster, by the numbers:

60,000

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.