Timeline: 10 years of war in Syria

For 10 years, Syria has been convulsed by war. Back in 2011, what began as political protests quickly escalated to deadly conflict. A decade later, the humanitarian toll is devastating. Over this period, 12 million Syrian people—half the country’s population before the war—have been forced to flee and leave their homes behind, often multiple times. This is the biggest displacement crisis of the century. Many of those who have been uprooted are still displaced today.

Years of conflict have also destroyed Syria’s infrastructure, especially its health system. Hundreds of medical facilities have been bombed, large numbers of medical staff have been killed or have fled, and there are still desperate shortages of medical supplies in many parts of the country. Today, the medical needs of the Syrian people are immense.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been responding to the crisis in Syria from the start, providing medical care and support to people in need across the country. We’ve donated medical supplies, set up hospitals and clinics, and provided remote support to medical facilities and networks of doctors in areas we couldn’t access directly. Today, MSF supports Syrians both within the country and in several neighboring nations that host Syrian refugees.