Content Warning: This section of the guide includes depictions of war, graphic violence, death, loss, discrimination, and xenophobia.

The Syrian Civil War began in 2011 when rebel forces sought to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Assad took power in 2000 after his father Hafez al-Assad’s death. Syrians hoped that Bashar al-Assad’s presidency would restore peace and equality to Syria in the wake of his father’s tyrannical regime. However, Assad quickly proved to be more dictatorial than his father. The period when rebel forces rose up against Assad’s regime is known as the Arab Spring. Rebels were fighting against Assad’s totalitarianism, police state, censorship of art and free speech, and regular disappearances and executions—among other war crimes and human rights violations. Assad’s forces sought to crush this uprising, which led to the civil war. The conflict continued until December 2024, when rebel forces launched another offensive to overthrow Assad. Assad fled Syria and found asylum in Russia. His regime fell at the end of 2024.

Since the start of the civil war, “more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety” (“Syria Refugee Crisis Explained.” The UN Refugee Agency, 13 Mar. 2025). Over seven million Syrians are displaced within Syria, while over six million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries, including Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and further abroad. Since Assad’s regime fell in 2024, over a million Syrians have returned to Syria, but the majority of refugees remain abroad. Since over 70% of the Syrian population has been forced to leave their home, Syrian refugees continue to face economic and social challenges: Lack of livelihoods, life in refugee camps, and a deficit of humanitarian aid are just some barriers that Syrian refugees continue to combat as of early 2025.

In February 2025, The Guardian covered the Syrian Refugee Crisis within the UK. Just two months after Assad’s fall, the UK government halted Syrian refugees’ applications for asylum—leaving more than “6,000 Syrians in Britain […] stuck in limbo” (Dearden, Lizzie. “Thousands of Syrians in Limbo as UK Home Office Freezes Asylum Claims.” The Guardian, 8 Feb. 2025). The Home Office halt occurred because of ongoing debates about Syria’s sociopolitical climate after the collapse of Assad’s regime.

Whether in the UK or abroad, Syrian refugee children face particular threats to their safety and well-being. The UNHCR estimates that roughly 50% of Syrian refugee children are under 18 and have zero “access to education.” Even those children who have escaped the war in Syria haven’t found security elsewhere, as many children have been exploited for labor in the countries where they’ve sought asylum.

In The Boy at the Back of the Class, Onjali Q. Raúf incorporates these elements of the war and refugee crisis into Alexa and Ahmet’s story. The author never locates the novel in a specific year, meaning that Ahmet’s experience could have happened anywhere between 2011 and 2018, when the book was published. In her author’s note, Raúf explains that she became invested in the crisis after hearing “the story of Alan Kurdi, a young boy who had died at the age of three trying to cross the Aegean Sea” (283). Elements of Ahmet’s story echo Alan Kurdi’s story, and many refugee children’s experiences are similar to his.

Alexa and her community’s response to the Syrian War and Refugee Crisis also echoes anti-immigrant bias and xenophobia abroad. While Alexa understands that children like Ahmet have been victims of a totalitarian regime and a civil conflict, many of her neighbors and peers perceive Syrian refugees as a violent threat. Raúf uses Alexa’s story to spread awareness about refugee children like Ahmet and to project a message of love and acceptance to refugees worldwide.