By Angel Palomino

Since March 2011, Syrians have been fleeing their country due to a long civil war.  Throughout the war, the death toll is estimated to be around 200 thousand people.  The UN (United Nations) Refugee Agency approximates that over four million people have fled to surrounding countries.

The civil war began with the Regime soldiers shooting protesters who wanted to release children who had been imprisoned for drawing pro-democracy graffiti on a wall.  After the protesters were shot, rebels quickly retaliated, bringing the two forces to fight.

After four years, the Syrians still have to flee and hide in surrounding countries to escape the horrors of the Regime.  According to the Observer, the Regime has used chemical warfare, bombs, tanks, shootings and the destruction of cities to kill the Syrians.  As people flee from the Regime, they still have to evade the IS (Islamic State) terrorist group as it also kills the refugees fleeing Syria.

According to a survey by the Washington Post, some of the reasons the refugees are fleeing Syria are the following: 43% of the refugees said the main reason they left was because Assad government forces occupied their towns; 37% had their homes were destroyed; 35% were threatened if they didn’t leave; 48% left at the urging of their families; 38% were urged by their friends; 32% followed their neighbors to safety; 32% couldn’t find necessities, food and water; and lastly, 16% fled when they ran out of money.

As life in Syria gets increasingly more dangerous they have several challenges to go through.  As the dawn calls to prayer, many women and children move quietly and sneakily, trying to avoid meeting the explosion of the Assad bombardments.  Many civilians have tried to flee, but they are scared of dying while getting capped at.

Teachers, doctors, and even normal government workers are forced to line up on the street by rebel fighters and are asked to describe their religious belief and their jobs.  Fear grew among them as they witness brutality of the soldiers shooting others next to them if they give them a wrong answer and leaving them bleeding to death.

Peter Oborne, a British journalist, interviewed the citizens there. According to a principal there, the soldiers had banged on her door at 4am; they wanted her husband and children inside the house to go into the street, and she saw her neighbors also lining up outside.  Then, the people were divided into two groups: one for young men to join the jihadi fighters, and another to be questioned.  She then stated that the soldiers had shot a man, who was wearing a pro-government shirt, in front of the families that were lined up.

But as more and more Syrians flee, the surrounding countries can no longer take any more refugees and they have started rejecting them. Russia has brought itself into the civil war to end the fighting.