Syrian Dust Bowl and Okies: is it the Future of the Region?.............
“A severe four-year drought is devastating Syria's rural communities, forcing them to abandon the country's traditional breadbasket in the northeast for cities in search of employment. Earlier this month, the World Food Programme started delivering food aid to nearly 200,000 people in the provinces of Al-Hasakeh, Al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, areas worst hit by the drought. The WFP says tens of thousands of the most vulnerable families have benefited from the food aid programme…… The situation has triggered a mass exodus of people to urban areas in search of work…… "Deir Ezzor was... green. Today, it is completely dried out, the fields resemble the desert, the Khabour river is dry,…..”
This drought may be the face of the most dire future crisis of the Middle East. Iraq is already suffering from some water shortage for its major rivers. Iraqis have criticized Syrian and Iranian river projects for have exacerbated their water situation (the Shatt al Arab especially seems to become more salty). Egypt is being forced to accept less than its usual share of the Nile water, by African nations that control the sources of the river. Israel has also been for years diverting waters of the Jordan and other rivers to irrigate its expanding settlements. Only Turkey and Iran do not seem to face the prospect of water shortages in the near future, mainly because these two countries control the sources of several rivers.
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