Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
The cold wave sweeping parts of Middle East should remind us of the warmth and stability we are enjoying, and it should also remind us of our duty towards our brothers who are freezing in refugee camps, after being displaced by wars and persecution of their rulers.
Forced to leave their homes, they are living in tents in open air in the chilling weather in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. Reports say around 100,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon are victims of harsh winter and making it worse, they are facing an acute shortage of food, medicines, clothes and heating fuel.
It’s reprehensible that the suffering of these refugees over the past four years hasn’t moved the global conscience to rescue the distressed children, women and elders.
Assad’s war against his people, attacks of terrorist groups, and the trauma of ordinary Syrians have gone unnoticed while the global leaders quickly gathered in Paris to condemn the killing of 12 journalists, which is of course an atrocious and condemnable act, but the same world is turning a blind eye and is not reacting to the daily killings by poisonous gases, explosions and missiles.
The inability of the international community to act has turned the Syrian issue into a huge humanitarian crisis.
The world, including Arab countries and the GCC, failed to deliver relief supplies, at least on time, to help refugees face the winter and rescue them from slow death.
Syrian refugees need urgent support to survive and preserve their dignity, and they are not interested in recriminations between the East and West.
It is a common responsibility, but Arabs and Muslims have a duty to remain in the forefront of rescue and humanitarian efforts.
The Peninsula
