The Syrian Coalition called upon the United Nations, the international community and friends of the Syrian people to take immediate action in order to break the siege regime forces and Hezbollah militias have imposed on the town of Madaya northwest of Damascus. The Coalition warned that delay or inaction will cost more innocent lives.
Member of the Syrian Coalition Salah al-Hamwi said that responding to “the tragic situation in Madaya, where children, women and the elderly are dying of hunger and cold, must be put above any political consideration as it is a purely humanitarian issue.”
Hamwi urged the international community “to save the people of Madaya from the crippling siege the Assad regime and Hezbollah militias have laid on the town for nearly seven months.”
The siege of Madaya threatens the lives of over 40,000 civilians who are struggling to survive amid severe shortages of food and medical supplies. Information coming out of the town indicates an imminent humanitarian disaster if no action is taken. Many people have already starved to death over the past few days. Moreover, the suffering of the residents of the town is further aggravated by the lack of means of heating amid the freezing cold that has recently hit the town.
Activists said that five people died in Madaya yesterday, two of them as a result of hunger and three in an ambush by regime forces whilst they were trying to smuggle food into the town. They added that many people tried to break the siege and sneak out of the town in order to bring in some food but couldn’t because of landmines pro-regime forces have planted around the town.
Member of the political committee Badr Jamous said that “the Assad regime’s actions in Madaya are part of its plans to force residents of Damascus suburbs out and bring about a demographic change in the area. The Assad regime employed the same plan in the town of Zabadani, the neighborhood of Waer in Homs and other areas across Syria.”
Jamous called for enforcing UN Security Council resolution 2254 which demands lifting the siege imposed on all besieged areas in Syria. He described Assad’s actions as a complete mockery of international laws.
On Sunday, field hospitals in Madaya received more than 150 cases of fainting as a result of severe malnutrition. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
