Last week at a press briefing, Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien spoke about the continuing tensions and fatalities in Syria, saying that “thousands of people have been killed and millions more injured over the six years of fighting in Syria.”
According to an article in the Economic Times by AFP in December of 2016, the war in Syria had killed more than 312,000 people since the war began in March 2011. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Monitor, of the 312,000 , over 90,000 are civilians.
O’Brien says he “remains extremely concerned about the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the besieged parts of eastern Ghouta in Rural Damascus, where some 400,000 people are trapped by Government forces.”
Besides the constant casualties and deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that hospitals and health care centers are not in service, stating that “all three public hospitals and 17 public health centres in eastern Ghouta are non-functioning and inaccessible to the population.”
On Twitter, the Syrian Network posted on April 2nd that in March 2017, a total of 1,134 civilians were killed, adding to the disturbingly high number of deaths that have taken place during this war that has now reached its sixth year.
Besides the horrible deaths and suffering of innocent civilians, the United States Embassy also revealed on Twitter on March 31st that the Syrian government is not only standing back and neglecting to help their citizens, but they are also stopping aide from reaching their population:
“Despite calls to allow #HumanitarianAccess, Syrian regime & its backers continue to block aid delivery, including food & medical supplies.”
They also released a statement on March 31 from the United States Mission to the United Nations, giving updates on the situation in Syria.
“Half of all Syrians are displaced from their homes, some living in the ruins of bombed out buildings and other fleeing as refugees to neighboring countries… Despite multiple calls to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to reach these people, the Syrian regime and its backers continue to block aid delivery, including desperately needed food and medical supplies. When it is not attacking civilians with bullets and barrel bombs, the regime uses red tape and bureaucracy to delay and hinder access. As a result, countless numbers of people have died.”
Also in the meeting, officials spoke about the urgency that should be surrounding the topic of aide to Syria, both in aspects of food and medical services, but refuge. Security Council at the UN, High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said “to meet the resettlement challenge, we not only need additional places, but also need to accelerate the implementation of existing pledges.”