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File photo: Syrian fighters leave Zabadani last year. AP/Press Association Images

UN warns of 'looming humanitarian catastrophe' in four Syrian towns

The UN’s last humanitarian access to the four towns was in November.

THE TOP UN official in Damascus has warned of a “looming humanitarian catastrophe” in four besieged towns in Syria, calling for immediate access to deliver aid to some 60,000 residents.

In a statement today, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Ali al-Za’atari, warned of dire conditions in the towns of Zabadani, Madaya, Fua and Kafraya.

Zabadani and Madaya, in Damascus province, are besieged by government troops and their allies, while Fua and Kafraya are under siege by the rebels.

“Sixty thousand innocent people are trapped there in a cycle of daily violence and deprivation, where malnutrition and lack of proper medical care prevail,” the statement said.

“The situation is a looming humanitarian catastrophe. The principle of free access to people in need must be implemented now and without repeated requests,” it added.

Za’atari said the situation was complicated by the “tit-for-tat arrangement” between the towns, whereby no aid can be provided to Madaya and Zabadani without similar access to Fua and Kafraya, and vice versa.

The linkage “makes humanitarian access prone to painstaking negotiations that are not based on humanitarian principles,” he said.

“This has prevented medical cases from receiving proper treatment and evacuation. People are in need, and they cannot wait any longer. We need to act now.”

The UN’s last humanitarian access to the four towns was in November, the statement said, without directing blame for the lack of access at one side or the other.

Earlier this month, the UN said it had been able to deliver aid to just 40,000 people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas in January, despite requesting access to more than 900,000 people.

That made January the worst month for humanitarian deliveries in nearly a year, with approval received for just one of 21 humanitarian convoys proposed by the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

The UN says 4.72 million Syrians are in so-called hard-to-reach areas, including 600,000 people under siege, mostly by the Syrian army, but also by rebel groups or the Islamic State group.

© AFP 2017

Read: This photo of an assassination is the controversial winner of the World Press Photo award

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:18 PM

    All together now Ramaphosa family , we’re in the money , we’re in the money .

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    Mute Mary Loony Mc Donald
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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:27 PM

    @Ken Hayden: S.A. was fookd when they had apartheid..and it’s been downhill since.

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    Dec 18th 2017, 7:09 PM

    @Mary Loony Mc Donald: Cyril here is worth a cool $450 million .
    So I honestly don’t think he’ll need need to rip South Africa anymore , or anyless .

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    Mute Mary Loony Mc Donald
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    Dec 18th 2017, 8:14 PM

    @Ken Hayden: it’s never enough..and his cronies need money too..btw where’d he get that much?

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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:44 PM

    SA is now a one party state, the result of this will always lead to rank corruption. For the sake of SA the ANC needs to split or an alternative party take shape or else this overt corruption will continue and lead to the same fate as Zimbabwe.

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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:21 PM

    What’s happening with Zim no stories.

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    Dec 18th 2017, 7:17 PM

    He has a lovely smile, I wish him all the best.

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    Mute Fergus Kavanagh
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    Dec 19th 2017, 5:40 AM

    @Angela O’Riordan: Is this an ode to Ken M Angela?

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    Dec 18th 2017, 7:46 PM

    Don’t knock Ramsphosa. A pragmatic businessman and good negotiator.

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    Mute Minom Pnnomm
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    Dec 19th 2017, 8:57 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: more hope for SA in terms of less corruption with this guy head of the ANC than another Zuma crony in the form of his ex wife.

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    Dec 18th 2017, 10:28 PM

    2019 will hopefully see ANC losing seats to DA! Then progress will be made.

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    Dec 19th 2017, 1:24 AM

    @Aine Foley: they won’t lose enough though. The elections are a vote for colour nothing else. The ANC have nothing else to offer.

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