With political tensions heightening in Syria and the increasing number of atrocities that have been flooding the media coverage from the country, there are renewed calls for more action from the UN. However, the pressure on the international community doesn’t just stop at the United Nations, there are also calls to put in place sanctions to cut off Syria’s biggest arms dealers from their clients in India and the US.
People powered political campaign organisation, Avaaz, has launched petitions to put a large voice behind the international outrage at the events taking place in Syria.
Their first campaign aims to petition the UN to do more than just authorise a nominal monitoring team to enter the country. Avaaz are calling on the United Nations to put together an international peace keeping presence throughout the country with a sole mandate to protect innocent citizens and it’s a campaign that’s hard to argue against considering the number of massacres that have decimated Syria.
For more information, visit https://www.avaaz.org/en/syria_will_the_world_look_away_c/.
The second campaign is targeted at the United States and India, as Avaaz announces their status as key clients of the Russian weapons supplier that also supplies the Syrian government. If the US and India were to call a halt on all outstanding deals it could put enough pressure on Russia to do more to safeguard the lives of families in Syria.
For more information, visit https://www.avaaz.org/en/us_and_india_stop_syrias_merchants_of_death/.
The campaigns show that there is plenty more that can be done by both the international community and the UN to safeguard the lives of innocent people in dangerous situations. It also highlights that there is something that ordinary people from around the world can do to try to improve the situation in countries like Syria.
