After seven months of siege by the troops of the Syrian regime, Saturday Yarmuk lock broke, the Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. Finally starting to get humanitarian - food aid and medicines, essentially - and rescuing sick was activated from elderly with chronic ailments aggravated by the lack of treatment for malnourished children in a neighborhood where it is estimated that between 20 and 50 people have starved in the last three months. Today, however, UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, reported that the distribution of food is being " painfully slow " and that only " a small group of families " is benefiting for now of postage.
The spokesman for the agency in Jerusalem, Christopher Gunness, explained that, despite the " persistent efforts " of his staff on the ground, only "a few hundred" packages have been delivered in these days and there are " thousands [ of civilians ] but are desperately awaiting their turn. " In total they have taken 109 boxes and food, 16 cans of Halawa and 20 sacks of rice, half a kilo each, " a drop in the ocean."
The delays are due to several reasons. The main thing is that a local Palestinian NGO has prepared a list of 5,000 names of neighbors, approved by Army commanders Bashar Asad, and who is not included in it does not receive assistance. " There vulnerable civilians " who come and go to the post of distribution, with the added hope that denounces the UN body. The order of these neighbors is limited to the " top brass " military. The check that list " extremely time consuming ", preventing normal flow of relief efforts. " Despite protests " of UNRWA, the process has not accelerated.
In addition, report the location of the point where help, in the street Sama is delivered requires that residents of Yarmuk crossing the line of fire, is a place "exposed" when the place could be placed in a zone close to households, making the safest and shortest route.
Although UNRWA says Syrian institutions " are facilitating the distribution ", to which pledged last Saturday, they need to "speed up" the process. "We appreciate the steps taken but insisted strongly that more should be done to reach many more civilians and ensure safe humanitarian access," Gunness added.
The story yesterday, for example, shows the desperate process. Just to cross the entrance of the camp - which came to 250,000 Palestinians and Syrians living and now has only 18,000 people, the rest have fled bombs and siege - UNRWA staff took 40 minutes. I had to travel one kilometer south to the point of delivery, another 20 minutes to finish rubble 100 meters from the front lines. Began reviewing the list of beneficiaries and " many civilians " were rejected, a process of controlled hours by government forces. A rescue of paralyzed patients count again. There were only finally two hours followed early in the afternoon, a time when 26 food parcels were distributed.
The UN has called for a " full humanitarian access " with the possibility of delivering relief items " all civilians," a request that the government in Damascus has told them that " being examined ". Today they will try to take back possession of other support.
The Local Coordination Committees, a splinter group that documents the situation of Syrian civilians, has confirmed that the transfer of the wounded and sick of Yarmuk hospital in Damascus " rescue " and several lives. Despite this encouraging opening, remember, is the situation of siege, almost identical, in areas like Aleppo, Homs or Moudamiya, surrounded by the regime. Access to international organizations is vetoed by the Assad government. The regional manager for the Middle East of Action Against Hunger, Jean- Raphael Poitou, has issued this morning a statement calling for a " free and direct " access of organizations to assist victims of it is, today, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world with 9.3 million people affected, 46% children.
Tags: aid, delivery, denounces, slow, Un, Yarmuk