The human tragedy in Syria will be entering into eighth year in March. Since the war started, thousands of innocent civilians, who have been reeling under poverty and price rice as a result of a prolonged drought in the country, lost their near ones, children and their own life for none of their mistake.
Once the air raids and bombardment of Eastern Ghouta started last week, around 600 civilians, including some 180 kids lost their life.
The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani tweeted last Saturday: “Regardless of political differences, what is going on in Eastern Ghouta is a crime against humanity. The protection of civilians in this case remains the responsibility of the international community, which it must not evade.”
This is one of the strongest statements from a leader in the region condemning the annihilation of innocent people and holding the international community responsible for the imbroglio.
Not long after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution moved by Kuwait and Sweden calling for a 30-day truce in Syria, the regime’s aircraft hit targets in the besieged Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta.
After the adoption of the resolution, Syria’s Ambassador to the United States said: “We practice a sovereign right of self-defence, and we will continue to fight terrorism wherever it is found on Syrian soil”.
Nobody, whether it is the government or rebels, has the right to kill innocent people. Fighting terrorism and eradicating it should be done with utmost caution and without causing damage to the day-to-day life and security of the people.
Fighting terrorism should not be at the cost of a ceasefire, which would allow for the delivery of emergency aid to thousands of stranded people and evacuation of the wounded in some of Syria’s hardest hit areas including Eastern Ghouta.
According to some reports, around 400,000 people are in hiding as Damascus suburbs have been pounded with shells, mortars and bombs since Sunday night. The plight of the ordinary people across Syria is worsening as the protracted war progresses.
The international community must not evade its responsibility of protecting innocent lives. The United Nations Security Council should hold accountable those who have been continuing crimes against humanity in Syria and prosecute them as war criminals.
The resolution moved by Kuwait and Sweden mark the beginning of a new unified international position to save the Syrian people from massacre. World leaders should try their best to turn the temporary truce into a permanent ceasefire in the country and the regime should be forced to honour the Geneva Convention 1 and 2 unconditionally.
