Charles Lawley

Monday

Charles Lawley

Syria’s nightmare is far from over

From our UK edition

With the world’s attention focused on the ongoing fight against coronavirus, Syria’s conflict rumbles on. Hundreds of thousands have died. Millions have fled. Yet this isn’t even the beginning of the end in the battle for control in this blighted country. The reality is that the future for Syria is filled with darkness and turmoil. When people took to the streets in 2011 to demand change, the reaction from Assad’s government was unprecedented brutality. A decade on, the motivation for upheaval has only increased. The Syrian population are now in a much worse state than they were in 2011.

Wednesday

Charles Lawley

How coronavirus has made the Big Society a reality in the Peak District

From our UK edition

These are dark times that are affecting all of us, but I see a glimmer of hope for communities like mine in the Peak District in Derbyshire. Our group’s community-led response, in the face of coronavirus has given me faith that we, and areas like ours, will come out of this with a renewed sense of community and local civil society will be stronger than ever. I live in Chapel-en-le-Frith in the High Peak. The area has recently transitioned from a large village into a small town, as new developments have steadily increased our numbers over the past few decades. Prior to this crisis, people’s view on the sense of community generally fell into one of two categories.

Wednesday

Charles Lawley

Spare a thought for Syria during the coronavirus crisis

From our UK edition

There is no place on earth less prepared for a coronavirus outbreak than a Syrian refugee camp. In hindsight, the deliberate targeting of homes and hospitals in Idlib, displacing over a million people from their houses, seems even more heinous now that it has left north west Syria utterly defenceless to the impact of the virus. The only saving grace is that the hell-on-earth created here by the brutal Idlib campaign means that very few people are incentivised to visit and bring the disease with them. While the regime-held south confirmed its first case on Sunday, there are a few suspected cases in the rebel-held north west, but virtually no ability to test and confirm, thanks to the wholescale and deliberate destruction of healthcare services in Idlib.

Thursday

Charles Lawley

My despair at those who weep for Quassem Soleimani

From our UK edition

A few hours into the new year, pro-Assad forces targeted a school in southern Idlib with a cluster bomb. The bombing took place at 11am when it was clear the school would have been busy. Five children were killed. Two of those who died were just six years old; the oldest child victim was only thirteen. Four adults were also killed. I will forever be haunted by the faces of Yahya and Hour, the innocent six-year-olds who were amongst the child victims who attended – and died at – the school run by the organisation I work for. This isn’t the first time one of our schools has been destroyed. In fact, six of our schools have been hit in as many months in Syria. Make no mistake: this is a clear co-ordinated bombing campaign against children.