- Security Council Divided on United States' Venezuela Action |
- Over 1.53m voters register for postal balloting: Shafiqul Alam |
- Bangladesh Bank to liquidate 9 NBFIs in financial sector reforms |
- Govt Moves to Clear Tk20,000cr Dues to Avoid Summer Outages |
- Maduro Pleads Not Guilty in US Court, Claims Presidency |
Syria Violence Displaces 93,000 as Aid Struggle Continues
Mothers and their children in Syria waiting to be tested for malnutrition.
Ongoing sectarian violence in Sweida, Syria, has triggered mass displacement in the area as humanitarians attempt to deliver aid.
More than 93,000 Syrians have been displaced across Sweida, the neighbouring Dar’a governorate, and Rural Damascus due to escalating violence in the city, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at Monday’s daily press briefing in New York.
Most displaced people in Sweida are staying with local communities or in one of 15 reception centres, while around 30 collective shelters have opened in Dar’a.
Infrastructure and services in the area are suffering. Some hospitals and health centres in Sweida are out of service, water infrastructure has been critically damaged, significant cuts to electricity have been reported, and access to food is disrupted.
On Sunday, the first aid convoy deployed by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent reached Sweida and the Salkhad district within the city, where most displaced people are seeking safety.
The convoy of 32 trucks carried food, water, medical supplies, and fuel provided by the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and other partners.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher welcomed this initial delivery on social media, calling it a “desperately needed first step, but much more relief is needed.”
Mr. Dujarric stressed that as the UN engages with relevant parties to facilitate humanitarian access and ensure the protection of civilians, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is working with authorities to facilitate a direct visit to Sweida to deliver assistance when security conditions allow.
Mr. Fletcher echoed this sentiment, saying OCHA teams “are mobilised to move as much as we can.”
“We continue to urge all parties to protect people caught up in the violence, including by allowing them to move freely to seek safety and medical assistance,” concluded Mr. Dujarric.