Syria: UN and partners get relief convoy in to starving residents of besieged town of Madaya

UN, 11 January 2016 – A humanitarian convoy has finally reached the besieged Syrian town of Madaya with life-saving health and food supplies from the United Nations and its partners for the 42,000 desperate residents after reports of people starving to death under encirclement by pro-Government forces.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Yacoub El Hillo said today it has taken long and patient negotiations with many parties to facilitate the convoy, whose first trucks are now being unloaded to start relieving a situation that UN officials last week called “horrendous…ghastly,” noting that deliberate starvation of civilians amounts to war crimes.

At the same time trucks have left Damascus for Kafraya and Foah, two towns under siege by opposition forces, where the inhabitants are also in desperate need as the war between the Government and a whole spectrum of rebel forces approaches the start of its sixth year.

The inter-agency convoy to Madaya brought life-saving items, including health, nutrition and food supplies, blankets, shelter materials, and soap for the people. The non-government group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said 23 people starved to death in the town in December, six of them children, and people trying to leave have been reported to have been killed.

Mr. Hillo noted that while there is much focus on Madaya, where the situation requires an immediate response, the UN and its humanitarian partners are equally concerned about the 4.5 million people living in besieged and hard-to-reach area across Syria.

“We continue to call on all parties to the conflict to facilitate sustained and unimpeded access to all people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria,” he stressed.

On the political front, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who is preparing the ground for political talks beginning in Geneva on 25 January in an effort to end the fighting, concluded a new round of regional consultations on Sunday, meeting in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his deputy.

He updated them on preparations for the talks, and as did when he visited Saudi Arabia last week, obtained assurances that current tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia would not affect the engagement of their government in supporting the Geneva talks.

On Saturday, Mr. de Mistura also had what was described as a useful meeting in Damascus with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem, and will now report back to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and seek his guidance ahead of the Geneva talks.
 un.org
11/1/16