Det arabiske forår har også haft svære menneskelige omkostninger
DUBAI, 4 January 2012 (IRIN): When hundreds of thousands of people across the Arab world poured into the streets in 2011 to demand freedom from dictatorship, they set in motion a series of events.
These events not only created humanitarian needs in countries that were otherwise relatively stable, but also exacerbated (forværrede) existing humanitarian and developmental challenges.
– Despite the fact that the Arab Spring may have brought hopes for freedom, democracy and better living conditions, it has not been without cost, said Abdul Haq Amiri, head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Middle East.
Here are the top 10 humanitarian consequences of a momentous year in the region, focusing on Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen.
Lives lost
2011 began with an 18-day uprising against former EGYPTian President Hosni Mubarak which left more than 800 people dead and over 6.000 injured.
By year end, sporadic clashes between protesters, security forces and “thugs” had killed at least another 81 people and injured hundreds more.
In SYRIA, a crackdown against demonstrators demanding President Bashar el-Assad step down led to more than 5.000 dead – though the number is constantly changing.
In YEMEN, at least 2.700 protesters, tribal supporters, defected soldiers and government-aligned army members and policemen have been killed in what began as peaceful protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh but increasingly involved an armed opposition.
Some 24.000 others were injured since the protest movement broke out in the first week of February, according to the NGO Dar al-Salam.
Former rebels in LIBYA estimate the war there killed 50.000 people.
Displacement
Læs videre på http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94581
