Is it ethical to refuse accepting Syria war immigrants?

One of the most abhorrent aspects of the war that had displaced millions of Syrians is the fact that the so-called Syrian civil war has become a proxy conflict. Russian warplanes bomb Free Syrian Army (FSA) positions, US jets strafe ISIS convoys, Syrian Army assaults are bolstered by Iranian militia, while FSA fight against regime troops on one front, and Al-Qaeda affiliates on another. It is the very nature of this pitiless war that raises serious ethical questions about accepting war immigrants. The war itself began with fairly unremarkable street protests against the Syrian regime; few Syrians could have anticipated that their country would be so comprehensively dismembered.

Until recently, Syrians were among the most progressive societies in the Middle East. Syria was proud of its status as a melting pot of creeds and cultures. Orthodox Christians married Sunnis; Alawites lived among Druze; Jewish enclaves and Kurdish communities flourished. But the proxy war has turned Shia against Sunni throughout the ruins of its once majestic cities. Centuries of co-existence have been shattered by a few years of mindless bloodletting with scant evidence of any light at the end of the tunnel. As a result, millions of educated civilians have found themselves transformed into refugees.

The world has an obligation to open its arms to those fleeing atrocities being commited by all sides in the conflict. Those neighbouring states who have been supplying arms and volunteers for the warring factions should feel a particular impetus to accept refugees fleeing the fire they have been so responsible for stoking.