On the anniversary of the start of the peaceful demonstrations and civil struggle in Syria, the displaced Syrians demanded the international community to give them what they have given the Ukrainian people: support and humane treatment. 

After more than a decade of peaceful demonstrations in Syria calling for freedom and dignity and eventually demands to overthrow the regime, the struggle of the Syrians continues despite being subjected to repression, killing, torture, and war crimes that have killed at least half a million Syrians and have displaced more than half of the Syrian people. 

As the world obsessively looked on in horror while the largest conflict on European soil since World War II unfolded, Syrians mostly felt tired. Many wonder what it would have taken to get the same attention for the killings and human rights abuses that served as a training ground for the aggressors and trial runs for their weapons.  

If Russia's aggression is to be addressed successfully in Ukraine, it also has to be addressed where it began – in Syria. Without this, it is just a matter of time and place when and where it will spread, SACD warned in March.