Letters - Who cares about the Syrian genocide?

SIX years of war, since 2011, has torn Syria apart. And, how has the international community reacted? The United Nations, powerful nations in the region and globally, the Syrian regime and groups that are evolving as alleged representatives of the people have engaged in never-ending peace negotiations.
Many political analysts believe that the Syrian regime lacks legitimacy, having killed thousands of its own people for demanding their fundamental rights and real democracy.
While the nation has descended into unprecedented chaos and carnage in the past six years, an inconsistent ceasefire, at best, is the outcome of years and rounds of futile talks.
Most critical in all of this is the plight of the Syrian people – possibly the worst humanitarian catastrophe in modern times.
Over the past six years, hundreds of thousands have been killed and 11 million of the country's 22 million people have been displaced from their home – almost half of whom risked their lives and fled on perilous land and sea journeys with thousands dying en route.
In most cases, children and women caught up in this crisis – more than half of all casualties – have fared the worst, those lucky to survive losing family to the violence and suffering inhuman physical and psychological trauma, deprivation and exploitation of all kinds.
Today, at least 13.5 million people in Syria desperately need humanitarian assistance. Most Syrian refugees are in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt in conditions that range from barely humane to deplorable with social and political antagonism to varying extents.
Slightly more than 10% of the refugees have fled to Europe, where in many cases their status remains uncertain to say the least.
Leaders around the world, even those who share a similar ethnicity or faith with the Syrian people, have paid mere lip service to this human tragedy. They are best at making highfalutin speeches with hardly any impact on the parties embroiled in the crisis or the tragedy it has caused.
Worst of all, the international mainstream media spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on the way in which the United States, Russia, Iran, IS or any other party involved has acted – as if they have a legitimate right to be there in the first place.
The major focus of these reports is seldom on the plight of the Syrian people, their desperate humanitarian needs – within the country and as refugees, or is there an international outcry and concerted action calling for the regime to respect the rights of its people and be made to account for the atrocities committed against them.
Sadly, the international community continues to "fiddle" while Syria is "burning"!
Rueben Dudley
Petaling Jaya