More should be done to end Syria’s civil war
The head of the Syria’s Olympic committee was last week banned from entering the UK for next month’s London games.
The British government’s decision to refuse a visa for General Mowaffak Joumaa is a strong warning to all supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s not to back a rogue president who is killing his own people.
Since the conflict began in March 2011, the UN says that more than 10,000 people – mainly innocent civilians – have been killed by the regime in a violent crackdown on rebel forces. And there appears to be no end in sight, with violence spreading in both the capital Damascus and in the northern part of the country.
Sadly, little is being done by the international community to bring an end to what the United Nations is now declaring a civil war. Various UN resolutions against the regime have ended in failure due to vetoes by Security Council members of Russia and China to block two US-backed draft resolutions. Meanwhile, the rising violence has forced the withdrawal of UN observers, putting the lives of the Syrian people in ever more precarious balance.
Metro Éireann believes that if there is to be a shift in the current situation, more should be done to persuade Russia and China to stop backing the beleaguered Syrian regime. It is their refusal to acknowledge the horrors being perpetrated by Syria against its own people that will only prolong the suffering.
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