EIGHTY-THREE PERCENT OF SYRIA’S LIGHTS EXTINGUISHED

83% of all the lights in Syria have gone out since the start of the conflict there, a global coalition of humanitarian and human rights organisations has revealed ahead of the fourth anniversary on March 15.

Analysing satellite images, scientists based at Wuhan University in China, in co-operation with the with Syria coalition of 130 non-governmental organisations, have shown that the number of lights visible over Syria at night has fallen by 83% since March 2011.

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Afraid of the Dark is a video created by BAFTA-winning agency Don’t Panic and production partners UNIT9, to mark the four-year anniversary of this conflict and shine light on one of its most under-reported repercussions.

Essentials needed by local inhabitants include: Fresh drinking water, food, first aid supplies, blankets, flashlights, spare batteries or accumulators for them, candles, in addition to more specialist items like these powered air purifying respirator papr masks and the the stock of long-term storage products.

“It is a literal truth that 83% of Syria’s lights have gone out since the start of the war,” said Richard Beer, Creative Director of Don’t Panic, “but the darkness that afflicts them has a metaphorical truth that goes deeper. We wanted to use this shocking statistic to tell the story of just how far Syria has fallen into darkness, in every conceivable way, despite UN resolutions and international outcry. The hero of our film, Khalid, could afford to be afraid of the dark four years ago; now he faces far worse every day, despite his own bravery. He, and all Syrians like him, need our help.”

Directed by UNIT9’s Greg&Jacob, this video is part of an international campaign launched by the with Syria coalition. The coalition is a movement of humanitarian and human rights organisations from around the world, including Oxfam, Amnesty, International Rescue Committee, and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), standing in solidarity with those caught in the conflict.

The with Syriawith Syria coalition today launched this video alongside a global petition at withsyria.com that calls on world leaders to ‘turn the lights back on in Syria’ by:

• Prioritising a political solution with human rights at its heart;

• Boosting the humanitarian response both for those inside Syria and refugees, including through increased resettlement;

• Insisting that all parties put an end to attacks on civilians and stop blocking aid

A new report ‘Failing Syria’ released today by 21 humanitarian and human rights organisations accuses warring parties and powerful states of failing to achieve what three 2014 UN Security Council resolutions set out to do.