Aid Charities’ Syria Worries Grow as Donors Steer Clear

As Syria’s civil war enters its fourth year, giving to address the resulting humanitarian crisis continues to pale compared to that for natural disasters, fueling fear and frustration among aid workers, writes The New York Times.

Organizations such as Mercy Corps and World Vision have collected a tenth as much money for Syrian relief as for the 2010 Haiti earthquake or last fall’s Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, despite a comparable toll in death and displacement. Aid experts said the complexity and seeming intractability of the Syria crisis, public wariness about Middle East conflicts, and a widespread perception that all players in the war are bad actors have served as drags on giving.

Hoping to spark a sense of urgency among donors, humanitarian groups launched new campaigns in mid-March, timed to the third anniversary of the peaceful uprising in Syria that morphed into armed resistance after a government crackdown.