The Cultural Heritage under the Syrian Conflict

In March 2011, large scale anti-government movements occurred in Syria. These movements rapidly developed into the Syrian conflict that has already lasted over 6 years. Approximately a half million people have been killed and over 5 million citizens have fled the country as refugees under the conflict. Under the Syrian conflict, the valuable cultural heritage in Syria has also been heavily damaged. This paper aims to report the current situation of the cultural heritage under the Syrian conflict. The paper also discusses the significance of the protection of the cultural heritage for the post-war reconstruction in Syria and introduce several activities to protect the Syrian cultural heritage undertaken in Japan and other countries