Disaster relief in a conflict zone: the case of Syria

Human civilization is characterized by migration, or consistent mobility within or between countries, for millennia. This chapter relates conflict to climate change and disaster displacement, which provides a logical explanation for how conflict may arise in many parts of the world. Perhaps one of the best-known situations of a refugee crisis brought on by both conflict and climate change is the Syrian crisis. Mixtures of language, culture, and ethnicities not only stress response capabilities of even more developed countries, but they also combine in the context of extreme stress to form a volatile combination and complex security scenario. Hence, there is a pressing need for more culturally and linguistically competent emergency/relief workers to be able to respond to climate change and the many existing and near-term conflicts and security needs across the globe. The goal of this case study is for participants to exercise their cultural competency knowledge, skills, and abilities to a migration crisis occurring in a conflict zone.