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People in a besieged Syrian town are dying of hunger Syrians starving to death in besieged rebel-held town, medical charity says
(about 2 hours later)
BEIRUT — The United Nations expressed alarm on Thursday at widespread reports of starvation in a besieged town west of the Syrian capital of Damascus, welcoming a promise from Syria’s government to allow aid to reach the hungry people there soon. BEIRUT —The United Nations expressed alarm on Thursday at widespread reports of starvation in a besieged town west of the Syrian capital, Damascus, welcoming a promise from Syria’s government to allow aid to reach the hungry people there soon.
No food has reached the rural town of Madaya since October, and desperate residents say they have been eating cats and grass to stay alive. Photographs posted on the Internet have shown images of frail, skeletal people amid reports that there have been several deaths from malnutrition. No food has arrived in the rural town of Madaya since October, and desperate residents say they have been eating cats and grass to stay alive. Photographs posted on the Internet have shown images of frail, skeletal people amid reports that malnutrition deaths have been mounting.
Hassan Abu Shadi, a rescue worker in Madaya contacted by telephone, said one or two people had been dying of hunger daily since snow fell on the mountain town late last month, for a total of 20 deaths so far. Doctors Without Borders said 23 people have died of starvation at a clinic the group supports in Madaya since Dec. 1, six of them infants under 1 year old.
“We were eating leaves and grass, but these days there are no more leaves because of the snow,” he said. “There is nothing left but salt and water.” The town has become “an open-air prison,” Brice de le Vingne, the director of operations for the medical charity, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said in a statement. Desperate people who try to flee have been injured or killed by bullets or by land mines planted around the town, he added.
The United Nations said in a statement that it had received “credible reports of people dying from starvation and being killed while trying to leave” the town, an opposition stronghold that has been under siege by pro-government forces since July. According to Hassan Abu Shadi, a rescue worker in Madaya, one or two people have been dying daily of hunger over the past week, since snow fell on the mountain town and blanketed the last remaining vegetation.
“Almost 42,000 people remaining in Madaya are at risk of further hunger and starvation,” the statement said. “We were eating leaves and grass, but these days there are no more leaves because of the snow,” he said, speaking by telephone. “There is nothing left but salt and water.”
Fighting over the town, which fell into rebel hands in 2012, ended this summer under a cease-fire deal that also encompassed two rebel-surrounded towns in northern Syria. According to the terms of the cease-fire, rebel fighters from Madaya and nearby Zabadani were escorted by the United Nations to Turkey, and government loyalists from the towns of Foua and Kefraya were permitted to leave for government-held areas of Syria. The United Nations said in a statement that it has received “credible reports of people dying from starvation and being killed while trying to leave” Madaya, an opposition stronghold that has been under siege by pro-government forces since July. The United Nations put the number of people trapped in the town at 42,000, but MSF said there were 20,000.
The deal also stipulated that food aid and other supplies should be allowed to reach civilians inside the towns. But only one delivery was made to Madaya, on Oct. 16, and residents have almost entirely run out of food. [Russian airstrikes force a halt to aid in Syria, triggering a new crisis]
The U.N. pointed out that it requires Syrian government permission to send food aid to the estimated 400,000 needy people living in various areas around Syria that are under siege by government forces, but that in the past year only 10 percent of those requests have been granted. Fighting over Madaya, which fell into rebel hands in 2012, was supposed to have ended this summer under a cease-fire deal that also encompassed two rebel-surrounded towns in northern Syria. According to the terms of the cease-fire, rebel fighters from Madaya and nearby Zabadani were escorted by the United Nations to Turkey, and government loyalists from the towns of Foua and Kefraya were permitted to leave to government-held areas of Syria.
People are going hungry in many of those locations, but Madaya appears to be the worst afflicted. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number of deaths from starvation at 10 people. One of them was apparently a 53-year-old man, Jamil Aloush, whose bony corpse was photographed and distributed by activists on Twitter on Tuesday. The deal stipulated that food aid and other supplies should be allowed to reach civilians inside the towns. But only one delivery was made to Madaya, on Oct. 18, and residents since then have almost entirely run out of food.
The Syrian government has long used siege tactics to compel towns that fell under rebel control during the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad to surrender. At the entrance to the town, said Abu Shadi, the fighters besieging it have hung a sign proclaiming “kneel or starve,” a slogan intended to capture the stark choice confronting rebels in the besieged communities. The United Nations pointed out that it requires Syrian government permission to send food aid to the estimated 400,000 needy people living in various areas around Syria that are under siege by government forces. But in the past year, only 10 percent of those requests have been granted, the United Nations said.
He said most of the fighters surrounding the town belong to the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which has been leading the battle to recapture Syrian towns in the vicinity of the nearby Lebanese border. People are going hungry in many of those locations, but Madaya appears to be the worst afflicted by far.
Though the reports of starvation deaths can’t be independently confirmed, videos and photographs posted on social media cumulatively suggest that conditions are dire. In one, a mother is shown feeding her gaunt, 16-month-old daughter sips of jam diluted with water, because, she says, there is no milk. Another video shows more images of emaciated people. [Is it too late to solve the mess in the Middle East?]
The U.N. said the Syrian government promised to allow aid to be delivered to Madaya, as well as the two other towns under siege by rebels, “in the coming days.” In the past, such promises have taken weeks or months to fulfill. The Syrian government has long used siege tactics to compel towns that fell under rebel control during the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad to surrender. At the entrance to Madaya, said Abu Shadi, pro-Assad fighters have hung a sign proclaiming “kneel or starve,” a slogan intended to capture the stark choice confronting rebels in the besieged communities.
He said most of the fighters surrounding the town belong to the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which supports Assad and has been leading the battle to recapture Syrian towns in the vicinity of the nearby Lebanese border.
Hezbollah denied the allegations, saying that rebels were preventing residents from leaving. “Terrorist groups are exclusively responsible for starving out the civilians in the town,” said a report carried on the website of Hezbollah’s al-Manar television station. The towns of Foua and Kefraya also have not received aid, the report said.
Though the reports of starvation deaths cannot be independently confirmed, videos and photographs posted on social media showing images of emaciated people suggest that conditions are dire. In one, a mother is shown feeding her gaunt, 16-month-old daughter sips of jam diluted with water, because, she says, there is no milk. A photograph circulated on Tuesday showed the skeletal frame of a man who had died of hunger that day.
The United Nations said the Syrian government promised on Thursday to allow aid to be delivered to Madaya as well as the two towns besieged by rebels “in the coming days.”
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