UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the use of starvation as a weapon in Syria amounts to a war crime after the second worldwide convoy arrived to the famine-struck town of Madaya to deliver humanitarian aid.
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“Separately on Thursday, UNICEF as part of a UN, SARC, ICRC joint convoy, was able to send ten trucks with a similar range of supplies to two other besieged areas, Foah and Kafraya benefitting the estimated 6,000 children trapped in the area”.
Thomson ReutersRed Crescent workers stand near their vehicles prior to inspection from rebels before heading to al Foua and Kefraya, in Idlib province, SyriaThe western Syrian town of Madaya has been blockaded the Syrian military and militias allied with the regime of president Bashar al-Assad, including Hezbollah for the past six months.
Dozens more aid trucks were waiting on the edge of Madaya, which lies about 45 kilometres (less than 30 miles) northwest of the Syrian capital.
Almost 400 people are in imminent danger of starving to death in the city according to the United Nations, and images of dying and emaciated residents have brought problems of humanitarian access in the war-torn country to the attention of global policymakers.
About 20,000 are living under siege in those two towns, she said. It also called on all outside powers to use their influence on rebels to ensure humanitarian aid was delivered.
“Let me be clear: the use of the starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime”, Ban said.
Officials who travelled to the town with the first aid convoy on Monday reported “heartbreaking” and nightmarish scenes they said were the worst they had seen in Syria.
“UNICEF and WHO teams worked with the health staff to establish a stabilisation centre and outpatient therapeutic services for the treatment of malnutrition”.
“The town’s population of 40,000 is being served by only two doctors, with a limited capacity to save the lives of civilians. This can not go on”, she said. He told reporters later that it would be up to the Security Council to decide whether to refer the matter the International Criminal Court.
“We now meet the families to talk about their needs”, he said on Twitter. “Today, we are reaching less than 1 per cent. This is utterly unconscionable”, Ban said.
“But he still has to define how to press ahead with this mechanism which to me is not looking good because all sides are not agreed on the parameters”.
Rebel groups that back the idea of a political settlement issued a statement on Wednesday rejecting any negotiations before goodwill measures from Damascus including a ceasefire. “There is no sign of goodwill”.
The team, Singer said, was “saddened and shocked”.
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The local community’s relief committee told officials of the United Nations’ World Food Programme that 32 people had died of hunger in the last 30 days, WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said. Among the rebels are the terrorist group ISIS.
