A HUMAN SECURITY PERSPECTIVE IN THE CONTEXT OF SYRIAN PEOPLE

Mehmet Murat PAYAM
Assist. Prof. Dr., Social Sciences Vocational College, Department of Property Protection and Security, University of Adıyaman, TURKEY, mpayam@adiyaman.edu.tr 

Abstract

As the ultimate victims of any security threats are humans, security has shifted more towards humans than States nowadays. The 1994 Human Development Report (HDR) also initiated the paradigm shift in terms of its emphasis from state to individual humans as the fundamental referents of security. Thus, the responsibility to protect humans from any violations of their human rights committed either by the States or the opposition groups against States is not only a moral and ethical responsibility for people and humanitarian actors, it is also a humanitarian obligation. Namely, the protection of human security, including human rights and human dignity, must be one of the fundamental objectives of international community and institutions. Defined as the “worst humanitarian disaster since the end of the cold war,” civil war in Syria has caused Syrian people to face the largest humanitarian and protection crisis in the world since 2011. In this regard, human security means freedom from pervasive threats to people’s rights, safety or lives. A comprehensive approach to human security includes two components: freedom from fear and freedom from want. In this context, this article addresses the concept of human security in the context of Syria and its people in terms of the threats to human security. Although the 1994 HDR lists seven essential dimensions of human security such as economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political security, the issue of human security in Syria will be addressed under the categories of personal security, food security and health security in this article. The article focuses that human security offers a better effective approach to many of the security threats in Syria. Finally, this article tries to warn national and international institutions to address threats to human security in Syria.

Keywords: Human security, Syria, right to life, food, health



FULL TEXT PDF

CITATION: Abstracts & Proceedings of INTCESS 2017 - 4th International Conference on Education and Social Sciences, 6-8 February 2017- Istanbul, Turkey

ISBN: 978-605-64453-9-2