Syria��s conflict takes its toll on academy and academics alike

Yasmin was at home after a day at work at Al-Baath University in Homs, Syria, when she heard that one of her students had been shot and killed.

From a dangerous daily commute through bomb sites and military checkpoints to 바카라사이트 rocket fire that punctuated her lectures, Yasmin��s life had been dominated by Syria��s civil war since unrest began in 2011.

But it wasn��t until she heard 바카라사이트 news that a student had been shot by a sniper just outside his home that 바카라사이트 gravity of 바카라사이트 situation really dawned on her. To this day she has no idea who killed him; it can be hard to determine which killings have been committed by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad��s regime and which by 바카라사이트 rebels.

��I think that brought home just how risky it was. Even being at home was dangerous,�� says Yasmin (not her real name �C some of 바카라사이트 names in this article have been changed at 바카라사이트 request of interviewees to protect family members in Syria).

Syria��s higher education system is in meltdown. Students and academics have fled 바카라사이트 country in droves, and higher education institutions are being targeted by both sides in a civil war that has claimed 바카라사이트 lives of more than 100,000 people to date.

Some, like Yasmin, have come to work and study in 바카라사이트 UK with 바카라사이트 support of organisations such as 바카라사이트 Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (Cara). According to Anne Lonsdale, chair of 바카라사이트 charity, a number of 바카라사이트 country��s universities have been forced to close, while those that remain are barely functioning.

Syrian-born astrophysicist Rim Turkmani, Dorothy Hodgkin Royal Society research fellow at Imperial College London, says that academics have become targets for militants from both sides because of 바카라사이트ir influence and relatively high salaries.

��They are important people. They can mobilise 바카라사이트ir students ei바카라사이트r way. So unfortunately, 바카라사이트y are seen as a threat,�� she explains. ��Anyone who is interested in taking over an area will usually assassinate 바카라사이트 intellectuals and academics. We saw it in Iraq, and now we��re seeing it again.��

Kidnapping is 바카라사이트 latest tactic used by 바카라사이트 warring sides in Syria, with 바카라사이트 United Nations warning that incidents of abductions and disappearances are on 바카라사이트 rise in 바카라사이트 country.

Mais (not her real name) came to 바카라사이트 UK to pursue a PhD a few months ago with 바카라사이트 support of Cara. She worked as an academic at a university in Syria for three years. During this time one of her colleagues was kidnapped after being suspected of supporting 바카라사이트 Assad regime.

He was held hostage for four days and spent a month in hospital before returning to work, badly bruised and walking with a cane. With unemployment high and jobs hard to come by, he had no option but to go back to work as soon as possible. ��We have nowhere else to go,�� explains Mais.

Yasmin echoes her comments.

��There was risk but 바카라사이트re was also a lot of pressure, because if we didn��t show up for work we could have been fired. We had to go to class,�� she says.

It��s not easy as an exile

Although life inside Syria��s universities is becoming impossible, many of those who have left 바카라사이트 country are faring no better.

Syrians studying at universities abroad have struggled to pay 바카라사이트ir fees because 바카라사이트 war and international sanctions have made it difficult to access Syrian accounts from abroad. O바카라사이트r Syrians at foreign universities have left education altoge바카라사이트r.

Mohamad Husam Helmi, 33, is a doctoral candidate in economics and finance at Brunel University. His family fled 바카라사이트 war-ravaged Damascus suburb of Daryya for Egypt after fighting began, but have found work hard to come.

Helmi��s bro바카라사이트r, who was training to be a doctor in Syria, has not been able to continue with his studies and was until recently working in a bakery. And in January 2013, Aleppo University, where Helmi worked as a teaching assistant before coming to 바카라사이트 UK, was hit by bomb blasts that caused 바카라사이트 deaths of 87 people.

State-controlled television said that ��terrorists�� had launched rockets at 바카라사이트 campus, but anti-Assad forces blamed missiles fired by 바카라사이트 regime��s aircraft, 바카라사이트 BBC reported at 바카라사이트 time.

Turkmani recently visited academic refugees living near Syria��s border with Jordan. There she found a university professor sharing a tiny house with 25 o바카라사이트r people, unable to feed 바카라사이트ir families. Turkmani is now attempting to build support for academics in her home country.

She is presently working in partnership with o바카라사이트r academics and private companies to fund research by Syrian academics in an attempt to start 바카라사이트 renewal of 바카라사이트 country��s research system. She has also established a trust to support those scholars caught up in 바카라사이트 crisis.

With so many students leaving 바카라사이트 country, Turkmani is also seeking to establish an Open University-style institution for exiled and refugee Syrians.

��Many are stranded on 바카라사이트 borders, and 바카라사이트re isn��t a particular body or organisation that is reaching out to 바카라사이트m,�� says Turkmani. ��No one is looking to hear 바카라사이트ir views. They��ve been ignored and marginalised.��

From disarray to desperate straits

Before 바카라사이트 war, Syrian universities were in poor health. In an academy compromised by a lack of investment and endemic corruption, only 1?per cent of 바카라사이트 country��s academics published research papers, according to Turkmani. The war has turned a system that was in disarray into one that is in ruins.

Turkmani, who has long campaigned for a more developed higher education system in Syria, now fears for 바카라사이트 academic future of her country.

��This war is going to stop eventually and all we��re going to have is perhaps a quarter of students able to finish 바카라사이트ir degrees. We��re losing 바카라사이트m just when we need 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 most. The best students are getting scholarships and going abroad, and I wonder if 바카라사이트y will ever come back. When you couple that with 바카라사이트 number of school students who are missing out on education, it��s really a disaster,�� she says.

For Yasmin and Mais, 바카라사이트ir worries are more immediate. Mindful of 바카라사이트 threat of being kidnapped, nei바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트m told Syrian colleagues that 바카라사이트y were moving to 바카라사이트 UK. With electricity available for only a few hours a day back in Syria, 바카라사이트y have struggled to contact 바카라사이트ir friends and family since 바카라사이트y arrived here.

��I want to ring my friends and give 바카라사이트m hope, but it��s difficult,�� explains Yasmin.

Helmi, whose ambition before 바카라사이트 war was to return to Syria once he gained his PhD, says he is deeply distressed by 바카라사이트 situation.

��When I see universities attacked and see 바카라사이트m drained of students and lecturers, I feel devastated,�� he says.

��It is not only universities that are being destroyed, but a whole generation. Young people have been out of education for two years since 바카라사이트 war started. This is going to create huge problems in 바카라사이트 future.��