Following the US-Iran tension, the fear of increasing instability in the region has mounted. Regional stakeholders are concerned about the escalating tension and its horrible consequences. The region has been jeopardized after the emergence of the self-proclaimed ISIL group, Syria’s conflict, and Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen.
As a result of the three aforementioned incidents, the rights and liberties of civilians and soldiers were violated on a large scale. A countless number of people were killed and discriminated on the grounds of their caste, color, and creed. Scores of women were raped by ISIL fighters simply for following a certain faith. The malnourished Yemeni children still make the headlines around the world and refugees from war-torn countries suffer severely in camps. To one’s unmitigated chagrin, the Middle East conflict has brought about untold sorrows to men, women and children. The outpouring of pain and suffering inflicted on war victims outrage the collective conscience. The inherent rights and dignity of people are trampled upon without an iota of mercy or guilt.
The tragic stories of war victims and ISIL’s rape victims will numb your feelings. But the international community is simply playing the role of a spectator. The voices of victims fall on deaf ears. Worst of all, global powers, instead of alleviating the public sufferings, pave the ground for further violation of human rights through pursuing their political objectives.
Despite the fact that all nations have reaffirmed their “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom”, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, people’s pain and suffering continue unabated.
It is self-evident that regional conflict and terrorism, which are the main factors behind violations of human rights and humanitarian laws, pose a threat to the entire world. To stop the outrageous acts of terror, the world should seek common ground and join forces in combating terrorism and extremism. 
One will remember vividly the image of 3-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on 2 September 2015. The photo shocked the public conscience regardless of religious, racial or ethnic background. It demonstrates that we live in the global village and one’s pain and sufferings will hurt the feelings of all nations around the world.
To maintain peace and harmony, all countries have to advocate the fundamental rights, i.e., the rights to life, liberty and property, of all individuals as well as “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” which are stated in the UDHR.
The world should understand that the threat of terrorism and extremism is highly strong. Terrorism is believed to be the most perilous issue of our century. Terrorist networks have played the most deadly and destructive role in modern world. A large number of people lost their lives in different parts of the world and were wounded in the wake of terrorist attacks.
With this in mind, the world has to combat terrorism to maintain regional and global stability and safeguard individuals’ rights and dignity.
Regional stakeholders and global powers have to engage constructively in de-escalating the tension in the Middle East. Sparking tension will be in the interests of no country and the horrible consequences such as human casualties and infrastructural destruction will be immeasurable.
Needless to say, if tension is escalated in the region, the re-emergence of the ISIL group is probable. That is, fundamentalist groups and terrorist networks are most likely to capitalize on the tension and re-organize their groups for further destruction and casualties.
To stop human casualties and protect the rights and liberties of people, the conflict in the region should come to an end. The international community should stop playing the role of a viewer and engage actively in de-escalating tension and ending conflict in Syria and Yemen.
It is a great cause for concern to see that in the modern world, in which human rights discourse is debated hotly, the rights and dignity of people are trampled upon more than ever before. Life has turned extremely cheap. Although we live in the global village, the “only-my-backyard” mindset prevails. Remaining indifferent to the ongoing human rights violations in the region is not acceptable. Global actors and the international community will be held responsible if the tension continues in the region. All countries should play their part positively.