Syrian regime turns back aid convoy from besieged town

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA

The Syrian regime on Thursday refused the first aid convoy's entry to the town of Daraya since a siege began in 2012.

“Daraya has been the site of relentless fighting for more than three-and-a-half years, and we know the situation there is desperate,” Marianne Gasser, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation, said in a statement.

“Civilians trapped here urgently need humanitarian aid. We hoped today’s distribution might prove to be a first step and lead to more aid being allowed in. Unfortunately, we were prevented from entering and eventually had to turn back,” Gasser said.

Earlier on Thursday the UN said the first humanitarian assessment mission since 2012 was on its way to Daraya, some 8 kilometers southwest of Damascus.

The head of the UN’s humanitarian efforts in Syria, Jan Egeland, told reporters in Geneva: "The [Syrian] government claimed that there were only terrorists inside Daraya... The assessment mission will be documenting that."

Last week, Egeland had said the UN needs to reach 905,000 people who urgently need humanitarian aid in Syria.

"The convoy was due to provide essential medical supplies to the town’s field hospital, distribute baby milk, and lead a vaccination campaign for children under 12, as well as distribute hygiene and school materials. This would have been the first-ever aid delivery to the town, which has been under siege since November 2012," The ICRC said.

“Communities in Daraya are in need of everything, and it’s tragic that even the basics we were bringing today are being delayed unnecessarily. As a neutral humanitarian organization, we must be able to provide aid impartially and safely,” said Gasser. “There must be minimum conditions for independent humanitarian action in Syria, which were not met today. We urge the responsible authorities to grant us this access immediately.”

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.