If you have left your house within the past couple of months, chances are that you have heard of the refugee crisis. You know that it’s bad and that Europe is somehow involved, but you’re not exactly sure what’s going on. Asking at this point is kind of like asking the name of the random kid in your English class who seems to know not only your name, but your whole life story. It has simply gone too far. Lucky for you, we have all the details and will fill you in on what you may have missed so far.

There has been a civil war going on in Syria since March 2011. Since this conflict has been going on for so long, its effects are extremely widespread. According to Mercy Corps.org, 11 million people have been displaced by this crisis and 220,000 people have been killed. At least half of the people killed have been innocent civilians. According to the Economist, the Syrian civil war has caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the 21st century.

So why is Syria even in a civil war? Well, it actually started in a high school. According  BBC, some teenagers painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. These teenagers were arrested and tortured, which caused pro-democracy protests in outrage. Security shot and killed several of the peaceful demonstrators, which caused even more unrest in among pro-democracy supporters. This began the government’s efforts to quash a revolution by killing and torturing activists and their families. As things escalated, these supporters started arming themselves, first in self defense and then to try to kick the security forces out of their area. These anti government rebels demanded that the president of Syria, President Assad, should resign.

If you’re skimming this article, you should stop here and get the lowdown about President Assad because this is a really important name to know. President Assad is not at all a fan of this whole democracy protest. In fact, right from its beginnings, he gave orders to completely crush it. The United Nations has asked him to accept a peace initiative, but he has flat out refused and will not negotiate with rebels at all. Instead, he has resorted to extreme violence against these rebels. There is even strong evidence that he ordered a chemical weapons attack on his own citizens; an attack that killed 400 children.

Partially because of Assad, the Syrian conflict continued to escalate and the rebels started battling the government for control of their country. Soon enough, this had become a full blown civil war, as the government tried to terrorize the rebels into submission and the rebels fought back for democracy. Four years after its beginnings, there still does not seem to be an end in sight to this horrible conflict.

Let’s get back to the refugees though. You read earlier that 11 million people have been displaced, but what does that mean? Where do these people go? Well, that is the question that the entire international community is trying to figure out right now. Refugees cannot stay in Syria because it is simply too dangerous, so they are trying to relocate to neighboring countries and escape by sea to Europe. Crossing the border is a perilous mission due to the snipers and soldiers stationed along the way. Most of the refugees who make it out of Syria end up in Jordan and Lebanon due to proximity. Unfortunately, these are also the two smallest countries in this region, so the large number of refugees is causing their economy and resources to collapse. Refugees who flee to Europe face their own set of difficulties, as they must travel from the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey to Greece. Even if they do make it to Greece, they often end up in poverty because of Greece’s lack of resources and financial instability.

Unfortunately, there is no simple fix to this problem. Syrian citizens are faced with the impossible choice of staying in their war stricken country or facing death trying to escape. The international community is similarly torn in trying to figure out the best way to aid this crisis without causing their own economic downfall. For the sake of the many victims of this tragic crisis, all we can do is hope that a solution is found soon.