Several pictures circulating on social media at the graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Pharmacy’s students at the University of Tishreen in Lattakia, sparked widespread controversy, due to the decline in the proportion of male students compared to female ones. The pictures revealed a clear decrease in the number of male students.
Dozens of regime loyalists confirmed that the cities of the Syrian coast became without men after Bashar al-Assad engaged the majority of their youth in the war against Syrians in all governorates. This comes in addition to joining the military service and using them to fight or join the ranks of his militias. Another portion of men fled outside Syria, choosing to pursue the path of death -either by land or by the sea- through illegal smuggling routes.
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Several statistics, including the first official figure issued by the Syrian government in 2018, eight years after the war, confirmed a high increase in the number of females over males. These figures are according to the announcement of the head of the Supreme Judicial Committee for Local Administration Elections in regime-controlled areas.
In a 2021 report, UNHCR said the situation in Syria had caused the world’s largest refugee crisis, noting that Syria was one of five countries whose residents have been forced to flee outside the borders of their country.
In related news, a previous report by the New York Times showed the depletion of men in the war over the past years. The newspaper reported that there are entire cities on the Syrian coast free of men, their names were written and their pictures were hung on large murals. People call the city of Tartous the city of widows, a reference to emptying the area of its men.
Syria’s population in the latest UN survey in 2017 was about 18,270 million, with a negative population growth rate of 2.30%, while births were estimated at 18.9 births per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to a death rate of 5.4 people.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
