Material support for victims of military conflict

The activities of ISIS in the crisis that has erupted in Syria and many other adjacent countries have resulted in the eviction of many civilians. Individuals have been rendered homeless, making them reliant on any type of assistance that may be provided to alleviate their plight. People in the region have suffered from the destruction of critical resources that help support their life as a result of the ongoing military war between militant groups and government institutions (Loveluck and Naylor). In other areas, basic supplies have been cut off as extremists attempt to force the population to comply with their demands. This essay will makes assessment of the need for material support to the victims of military conflict as a result of the activities of ISIS.
Material support encompasses the provision of basic amenities and social services which would help in improving the lives of the people who have been affected by the military conflicts (Hersey, 14). Due to the nature and situation in which the affected civilians encounter, any form of support provided to them remains relatively significant. The militant groups operating within the region and which have caused the military conflict commonly seek to utilize the civilian resources in seeking to enforce their rule upon the population. In some regions in Syria, there have been situations in which roads that could provide basic supplies like food have been closed, as a way of seeking to force the people to accept the terms provided by the militants and hence turning the people against the forces that could help them like the government agencies.
Within the legal context, material support refers to the provision of assistive material things to terrorist organization and it is considered illegal. The victims of military conflict, however, also need such resources in seeking to ensure that they overcome the problems that they face as a result of the destruction of property and their sources of livelihood (McLaren et al. 357). The materials might include safe housing, medical facilities, and transportation seeking to evacuate them from the conflict affected regions. Since there is a possibility of the support ending up reaching the militants, those providing this support need to be extremely careful to ensure that they accomplish the purpose which they intended to, with the resources provided.
In the provision of material support to victims of military conflict, involved agencies must ensure accurate assessment of the individuals to ascertain the need for the support. The organizations face a myriad of challenges, some of which seem to restrict the provision of material support. The fundamental challenges which face many humanitarian organizations face in this situation are ensuring that only those in need of the assistance receive it. While the material support remains necessary, it is a criminal offense to provide such support to the militant or terrorist groups. In seeking to ensure that humanitarian services are not rendered to militant groups, accurate identification of the victims needs to be performed. This is a precautionary measure to ensure that the support is provided to those that need it.
Since there is always a possibility of the material support being provided to the militant groups, it remains important to evacuate the civilians from the military conflict zones. Through the evacuation of the victims, humanitarian resources can be provided in safe area where there is minimal risk of being provided to terrorist organizations. Evacuation of the people from the region would be an ideal approach that can help in providing the required humanitarian resources. Once the individuals have been evacuated from the war affected zones, material support like housing can be provided in a serene environment. Identification of the civilians can also be performed to determine the kind of assistance that they need.
The evacuation process however, presents an ethical dilemma as it commonly involves the movement of people away from their homes. The humanitarian organizations face a dilemma when confronted with forced population transfers. In situations where there might be ethnic crisis or military action targeting particular communities, the evacuation could be perceived as deportation (Corrado, Cohen, and Davies 290). Assisting the people in the movement to safety can be perceived as complicity in deportation, despite the good intentions. Despite the objective of the conflict being displacement, assisting people through the evacuation process presents a dilemma to the organizations involved. Persuading the people to stay could jeopardize their lives, yet helping them to move can be complicity to ethnic cleansing.
While evacuation of people in this situation remains valid approach towards finding a solution, the Geneva Convention is very clear and prohibits such action. This kind of action however, remains necessary in situations of conflict as a way of safeguarding the lives of people. The provision of the Geneva Conventions raise fundamental ethical issues as they seek to ensure that individual are protected and do not become deported from their residence (Bothe, Partsch, and Solf 72). Conflict, however, creates problems within the regions of residence and individuals can be evacuated in seeking to constrain the activities of the militant groups.
Many regulations exist regarding the aspect of moving people from their residence to other regions during the conflict. Deportation of human population has been a tactic applied in seeking to overthrow an enemy and this has been the fundamental reason for the rejection of the principle. As a result of the need to provide the people with material support to help them in their livelihoods, it becomes necessary to evacuate them as a way of ensuring their safety. The moral question raised, however, can be overcome through ensuring that the evacuation is voluntary and those being evacuated have consented to the activity.
The military conflict caused by the activities of the militant or terrorist group of ISIS has created significant humanitarian crisis within the region. Civilians have become the victims of the military conflict and in dire need of any material support that they can receive. Provision of the services while people are within the conflict affected zones however, increases the possibility of the aid being provided to the militants. In seeking to eliminate this possibility, this article proposes a process of civilian evacuation to aid in identification of the victims and allows them to be provided with material support outside the conflict zone. This is a process that presents an ethical dilemma of either evacuation or deportation, both of which refer to the same act but deportation is illegal while evacuation is not.

Works Cited
Bothe, Michael, Karl Josef Partsch, and Waldemar A. Solf. New Rules for Victims of Armed Conflicts: Commentary on the Two 1977 Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1982. Print.
Corrado, Raymond R., Irwin M. Cohen, and Garth Davies. "11 Terrorism Crime Prevention Policies in Liberal Democracies: Challenges, Dilemmas, and Options." Crime Prevention: International Perspectives, Issues, and Trends. New York: CRC Press, 2017. 283-316. Print.
Hersey, John. Hiroshima. New York: Random House, 1989. Print.
Loveluck, Louisa, and Hugh Naylor. "Aleppo's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens While Islamic State Loses Key Syrian City." The Washington Post 13 Aug. 2016. Web.
McLaren, Bruce M. et al. "Exploring the Assistance Dilemma: Comparing Instructional Support in Examples and Problems." International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems. New York: Springer International Publishing, 2014. 354-361. Print.