Press Statement
Syrian Coalition Media Office
Istanbul, Turkey
December 31, 2013
The Syrian Coalition warns of looming humanitarian disaster in the Yarmouk Palestinian district, in southern Damascus, as at least 20 thousand civilians, including women and children, remain trapped in the area. Reports from Yarmouk, as well as other areas under siege, confirm the Assad’s regime is following a state policy of blocking access to basic foods and medicine, resulting in the systematic starvation of innocent civilians.
Five civilians died of malnutrition in Yarmouk over the weekend, in addition to 10 others who have died since September 2013, according to the spokesperson of the United Nations Relief and Works agency (UNRWA) Chris Gunness. Activists reported that three more Yarmouk residents died from starvation on Sunday, December 29.
The Syrian Coalition calls upon the international community to assume its responsibilities towards the Syrian people and pressure Assad into allowing humanitarian aid convoys immediate access to Damascus’s southern neighborhoods, Eastern and Western Ghoutas, Old Homs, and all areas in need of aid across Syria.
We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.
Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.
