Life in Syria before the war began in 2011 was peaceful, with its people able to go to school and work and hang out with friends along the Euphrates, the river crucial to the birth of Mespotamian civilization.

Then the war turned their country into a “trash can” where society’s worst gather and fight in pursuit of their own political agendas, according to Wahab Almohammad Agha, the director of humanitarian organization Help Syria. 

“I am no longer able to go back to my hometown Raqqa because the Islamic State seized the city and held ordinary Syrians there hostage,” said Almohammad Agha, who is Syrian himself, in an interview with The Korea Herald.

Stuck in a political limbo imposed by the actions of dictator Bashar al-Assad, brutal militant groups and foreign powers, it is ordinary Syrians who are paying the price, he pointed out.

“Men are forced to serve in the Islamic State’s army, women are not allowed to walk alone on the streets and children are not able to go to school because of continued bombings,” he said of the situation in Raqqa, the de facto capital for the Islamic State group. “It is like a prison.”

“As air strikes continue, many more civilians than terrorists die. Kidnapping, injuries and death from bombings have just become a part of life for ordinary Syrians,” he said. “We die there or we die while crossing the sea. But IS only expands its territory.”

The war also reshaped their culture, he said. They say good-bye to their families before leaving home every day as if they may not see each other again.

“My family is in the process of seeking refugee status in Turkey and one brother in Norway,” he said. “Many Syrians could not flee, as IS has completely shut down the area in recent months.”

Almohammad Agha, a former law student at the University of Damascus, first came to Korea in 2009 to pursue a Ph.D. degree in law at Dongguk University in Seoul. While studying, he founded Help Syria in 2013 to collect donations, send humanitarian aid for Syrians and run campaigns to raise awareness of Syrian refugees in Korea.

The revolution began in March 2011 as peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations against President Assad’s dictatorship as a part of the Arab Spring. President Assad opened fire on protestors to crush the dissent, which prompted hundreds of thousands of Syrians to take to the streets and then escalated into a full-blown civil war.

But the conflict grew into more than just a battle between those for and against President Assad, with the rise of the radical militant Islamic State taking over large swathes of the country and foreign countries swaying influence.

Calling the war in Syria a “proxy war” among major world powers, Almohammad Agha claimed that international intervention has only prolonged the bloody confrontation in Syria.

“The world’s powerful countries set foot in Syria, but not in a way we wanted. They have come together to solve the situation in Syria, but they never listened to Syrians’ voices,” he said. “By selectively supporting different groups in the opposition bloc, the situation became complex, and even rebel groups are fighting with each other.”

“The opposition bloc, which all want the president to resign, is deeply divided over their stances on terrorist groups and how to finance their war, with hundreds of different groups forming alliances with different countries,” he said. “In the face of the fragmented opposition forces, the Syrian government and IS are advancing.”

The US and its allies -- Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the UK and France -- have selectively supported moderate rebels in the Sunni-dominated opposition bloc as part of efforts to fight IS and other jihadist groups.

Russia and Iran have remained the closest allies of President Assad, supplying funds and weapons to the Alawite-led Syrian regime to suit their own agendas.

A series of attempts to bring peace to Syria amid intensifying attacks to occupy the northern city of Aleppo, including a recent agreement between the US and Russia for a cease-fire, have been foiled, with the countries trading accusations for the failed truce.

Further complicating the situation, IS cashes in on the chaos and fights rebel groups and rival jihadists from the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, the government and government-backed Kurdish forces to expand its territory.

“The Syrian war has been described as a war of religion, but the situation is more complicated. Religion is not as big of an issue as it seems from the outside world,” he said. “Syria’s leadership and regional and world powers are pursuing their self-interest and they are using religion as the cause.”

“For many Syrians, IS is a terrorist group with beard, the international community is a terrorist group without beard,” he said. “The Syrian government is to blame for the civil war, but the conflicts escalated after the international community meddled in the situation.”

“As I see it as a Syrian, the answer is simple. The international community should leave Syria alone and stop funding any groups so that it can solve its problem on its own,” he said. “Otherwise, the international community and rebel groups should come as a one and join forces to topple the autocratic Assad government and IS.”

“When the government gains control again, Syria will slip back into dictatorship,” he said of the Assad administration.

Five years into the drawn-out war in Syria, more than 250,000 people have been killed by air and ground strikes as well as land mines, with half of them believed to be civilians.

There are 4.8 million Syrian refugees registered on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in its neighboring countries, with Turkey hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees at 2.7 million.

At least 6.6 million Syrians struggle to survive inside the war-stricken country while being internally displaced.

“In Syria, the food price skyrocketed. The Syrian government cut off water, electricity supplies and telecommunications in rebel- or IS-held regions,” said the activist, who has traveled to Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan on several occasions to deliver relief aid.

The situation at refugee camps in Europe and the Middle East is also appalling as asylum-seekers are often squeezed into small areas without sufficient food, medical care and education or any freedom to move around.

“I think that the continued war and refugee crisis are a result of the international community’s failed intervention in Syria,” he said. “But foreign countries shift responsibility onto each other for Syrian refugees, treating us like a burden.”

“It is worrisome that anti-refugee sentiment grows, with radical groups blaming refugees for everything from faltering economy to terrorism, which leaves little place for Syrian refugees to settle in.”

The European Union is currently discussing an asylum seeker redistribution plan, as migrants fleeing violence in the Middle East flock to its member countries. According to Eurostat, 1.2 million people made perilous crossings to seek asylum in Europe in 2015, with Syrians accounting for almost one-third of those.

South Korea, the first Asian nation to enact a Refugee Act, also saw a surge in the number of asylum-seekers, from 1,574 in 2013 to 2,896 in 2014 and 5,711 last year. It has accepted 576 cases out of a total of 15,250 asylum applications, putting the refugee acceptance rate at 3.7 percent.

But the country did not appear to be welcoming of Syrian asylum-seekers either, he said.

As of the end of last year, 1,052 Syrians applied for asylum, but only three received refugee status, though another 644 were granted the right to stay here on humanitarian grounds until the war ends in their home country.

The humanitarian visa restricts holders from bringing their families or freely traveling outside Korea. The visa holders are required to extend their work permits every six months, which further reduces their chance of securing a stable job and income.

“It is difficult to get jobs as most Syrians, who are on humanitarian visas, should extend it every six months. The procedures are too complicated for asylum-seekers who are not able to speak the local language or English,” he said. “Many find work illegally without insurance, and their unstable status makes them more vulnerable to exploitation at work.”

The most difficult part is, however, that the public increasingly views all Muslims as potential terrorists, he said.

This year, the Justice Ministry drew criticism for denying Syrian asylum-seekers’ rights to apply for refugee status in the country at the height of fears following the Paris terrorist attack in November 2015.

The ministry had cited that the Syrians had no clear reason to seek asylum in the country and that they flew to Korea via what it saw as safe countries, such as China or Turkey.

A total of 28 Syrians stayed for six months at a deportation room at Incheon International Airport from the end of last year while challenging the ministry’s decision at court. Since the court ruled in favor of them in June this year, they have legally entered the country and are going through a refugee screening process.

“Lack of awareness on refugees creates misunderstandings. What Syrians need in Korea and around the world most of all is their understanding that we did not choose to be forcibly displaced,” he said. “We are the people who want to return to Syria where our family, our jobs and our home are.”

To stop the refugee crisis from engulfing the world, the war should come to an end, he said. While Russia and the US blame each other for the collapse of a recent cease-fire deal, it takes the greater political will of the international community to bring peace to Syria, he added.

Despite the seemingly grim outlook for the situation in Syria, Almohammad Agha remained hopeful about the country’s future.

“Peace is absolutely possible in Syria. As a tree with strong roots can further grow when rotten parts are removed, Syria is going to rise again as soon as flawed leadership is excised.”

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)