Humanitarian crisis threatens Southern Suburbs of Damascus as siege continues

Translation by Yusra Ahmed

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The tragedy of people under siege in southern Damascus is getting worse with Syria's harsh winter and cold weather, with closing the only crossing point to area, the situation reached to unprecedented levels of difficulty.

“The tragedy of people in the area is exceptionally unprecedented” said the office of relief in Southern Damascus countryside.

The suffering of 75 thousand people in Southern Damascus: Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees, al-Hajar al-Aswad, al-Esali, al-Kadam, al-Tadamon, Babila, Biet Sahem and Yalda, reached to every detail in their lives, including food, which became rare and unavailable, forcing Scholars and sheikhs to allow eating meat of cats, dogs and donkeys in the end of 2013.

The scene of children searching for food in garbage or begging for food had become familiar.

At the time, the bird’s foot, the bitter plant, had become a source of food at high prices, at almost 12 thousand Syrian pounds per kilogram.

The pressure and difficult living conditions, led to many Psychological troubles and suicide attempts and tendency. Even cases of collective suicide were recorded. One of them in December 2013, when hundreds of people in Yarmouk camp tried to escape barrier of Beit Sahem, but they were shot at and about 150 of them were killed by the regime's forces and other militias.

The other incidence was when thousands of people tried to break through Barrier of Ali al-Wahsh between towns of Yalda and Sayyidah Zaynab , hoping to end their tragedy, but more of 1000 of men and children were arrested and disappeared, many of them were returned dead to their families.

In February 2014, people reached to unbearable state of hunger and lack of everything they were forced to reconcile with the regime to let essential food in.

However the regime started to control food’s entry to the area to pressurize people under claims that food would go to “terrorists” or to areas which did not go for truce and reconciliation.

In the end, regime closed the last crossing point t the area, preventing food, medicine and services threatening people of repeating siege.

Cold winter, severe siege, no culturing and people unable to store any food because of poverty, all that form an ideal recipe for unprecedented siege, but this time threatening of real humanitarian crisis severer than before.