Syrian government ready to attend peace talks in Geneva
He sent pictures of emaciated bodies of several elderly men, recent casualties of the starvation.
Warnings of widespread starvation are growing as pro-government forces besiege an opposition-held town in Syria and winter bites, darkening the already bleak outlook for peace talks the United Nations hopes to convene this month. Though the number of people who have died is not clear, some activists put the number at around 41.
Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.
“There are immediate steps we can take to stop more vulnerable people dying needlessly of hunger”.
“We urge the Assad regime to fulfill immediately its stated pledge … to lift its siege and to allow humanitarian access not just in Madaya, but to a town called Foah and another town called Kefraya”, Kirby said. One kilogram of rice cost about $200 and 900 gram of formula for babies selling for as much as $300.
He added: “Negotiations have no meaning all the time we are besieged, all the time we are hoping for a cup of milk for a child. Our dead?” he said.
More than 260,000 people have died since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011, and previous efforts to find a political solution to the war have failed.
Two of the villages are Foua and Kfarya in the country’s north. These Shi’ite villages have been besieged by anti-government militants for more than a year.
It is thought that approximately 40,000 people inhabit the town of Madaya.
Madaya, near the capital Damascus, is home to 42,000 people, according to the UN. The UN has received credible reports of people dying from starvation and being killed while trying to leave.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), up to 4.5 million people in the war-torn country live in hard-to-reach areas, including almost 400,000 in 15 besieged locations that do not have access to the life-saving aid they urgently need.
Aid agencies were hoping for easier access to the area following the ceasefire deal concluded under United Nations supervision.
Syrian officials could not be reached for comment.
Freezing temperatures and a lack of medicine are exacerbating the suffering from the siege, MSF says, calling for heating fuel and medical supplies to be included in aid to the village.
UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said an aid convoy would go to the besieged city in a few days, but there was no firm date for delivery.
One siege is by Daesh (the so-called IS) group, on government-held areas of the city of Deir Al-Zor.
De Mistura’s brief trip to Damascus is part of a string of regional visits in the buildup to the talks.
Doctors in two towns record 31 cases of death by starvation last month after Syrian regime seals exits. “We know that people think we are exaggerating, but believe me, it is worse than any exaggeration”.