The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock warned that as many as three million people in Syria continue to live in besieged and hard-to-reach areas. He noted that the daily shelling on eastern Ghouta has severely curtailed humanitarian access the rebel-held enclave for months.
Lowcock said there was “an alarming number of child malnutrition cases” have been reported in Eastern Ghouta and more than 400 people with health problems need medical evacuation.
“Conflict and violations of international humanitarian law continue to be the principal drivers of humanitarian need, with civilians in many parts of the country enduring massive suffering,” told the UN Security Council via videolink from Jordan.
Lowcock said he was “worried about the impact of fighting and airstrikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Raqqa governorate, with scores of civilians reportedly killed in recent months.”
Lowcock noted that heavy fighting and airstrikes in Deir Ezzor province continue to result in civilian deaths and injuries as well as large-scale displacement, with some 350,000 people displaced since August, including more than 250,000 people in October alone.
“And an estimated 50,000 Syrians remain stranded in the desert in Rukban on the ‘Berm’ along the Syrian-Jordanian border,” Lowcock said. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
