“A complete meltdown of humanity”: The Aleppo Disaster of 2016

Abstract

Aim: This paper examines the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, Syria, during its civil war in 2016.

Methods: Historical methodology was used to analyze primary sources such as records from aid agencies and aid workers and secondary sources on humanitarianism and “new wars.”

Results: Many United Nations and international non-government organizational missions have been involved in Syria. The White Helmets and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), in particular, illustrate the frustration and challenges that responders to the “new wars” experience.

Conclusion: As nurses work in politically charged environments such as war, they face new challenges that demand new responses. We call for nurses to engage in the needed dialogue over the use of force that intersects with humanitarian work.