Balkanisation of Syria?

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is not shedding any tears over the exodus of millions of Syrians to neighbouring countries and beyond out of fear for their lives because of the five-year-old civil war in the country.

No less than 1.3 million Syrian refugees have entered Jordan over the past few years and an equal number left for Lebanon.

Turkey is said to have received more than 2 million Syrian refugees as well.

Last summer, Europe witnessed wave after wave of refugees from Syria making it to its borders by whatever means available to them.

Now the EU countries are confronted with one of their worst crises in decades, and still scrambling in search for a solution to this human tsunami hitting their shores and mainland.

As for the millions of internally displaced Syrians, their numbers keep on increasing with every shell that rains on them.

Most of these people can be expected to try to flee from the raging hell in their country at the first chance that presents itself to them.

It is no accident that no less than 99 per cent of the Syrian refugees belong to the Sunni sect.

And this is the core of the conflict in Syria.

The ruling regime in Damascus is Alawite, a branch of the Shiite sect; it is a minority in the country determined to maintain its grip on power at all cost.

The blood spilt in Syria is fuelling a Shiite-Sunni confrontation reminiscent of the old days in the history of Islam.

There is little hope that reconciliation between these two branches of Islam can be achieved any time soon.

It would be logical to believe, therefore, that the pro-Shiite regime in Damascus has a vested interest in “cleansing” Syria of its Sunni population in order to ensure the permanent supremacy of Shiites. If that is indeed the case, then Syria is destined for balkanisation along sectarian lines.

This is something that all true friends of Syria fears most.