There are about 2,000 armed opposition groups in Syria and their fierce fighting has cut off many of the access routes needed to deliver humanitarian aid. One result is that some 2.5 million people in Syria have not been reached for almost a year because they are trapped in hard to reach and besieged areas.
Another 2.3 million people, including 1.8 million in rebel held areas, were reached just once since January 2013. In addition, more than 2 million Syrians are in refugee camps in bordering countries and 4.5 million are displaced inside the country.
That means the war has forced over six million people to flee and another 2.5 million are in hard to reach areas although they may not have been displaced. In summary, some 40 percent of the population of 21.9 million is in misery.
Valerie Amos, the top UN official for humanitarian affairs and relief coordination, stated most of those figures in her latest quarterly report to the UN Security Council this weekend.
Worse, just 54 percent of funds promised by donors for humanitarian aid have been delivered so far. Aid workers are having trouble finding just $1.8 million to provide blankets and other materials to prepare for the region’s harsh winter.
“Words, despite their ability to shock, cannot really paint a picture of the grim and gruesome reality of Syria today,” Amos said. “Diseases, including those easily preventable by basic hygiene and vaccination, are spreading at an alarming rate. Just last week we received reports of polio cases in Deir-ez-Zor, which, if confirmed, will mark the first polio outbreak in Syria in 14 years.”
“In Aleppo and other cities, leishmaniasis is rife, disfiguring and scarring children’s faces for the rest of their lives. There are also worrying reports of rapidly increasing malnutrition. People suffering from chronic illnesses, such as cancer and diabetes, lack access to treatment, and they also are dying. Silently,” she reported.
“People continue to die unnecessarily… Since the war began, over 3,000 schools and a significant number of mosques have been damaged or destroyed. Most flour mills and bakeries are no longer operational. Medical facilities have been particularly hard hit: around 60 per cent of hospitals, 38 per cent of health centers, 90 per cent of ambulances and 70 per cent of pharmaceutical plants have been affected by the crisis. The deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel and transportation remains a daily reality.”
Amos’ report is a heart-rending wake up call. Whatever the fog, disinformation and distortions about the war in Syria, the tragedy of its humanitarian crisis is undeniable. Nearly half the civilian population is in distress while the world’s powers work out their own rival agendas, with the Saudi’s, Americans, Russians and Iranians fuelling the war by arming various warring sides.
It remains to be seen whether President Barack Obama managed a magnificent diplomatic coup forcing Syria to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal or was taken for ride by Bashar al Assad’s friends.
But the horrendous humanitarian suffering in Syria, with no early end in sight, has already cast a shadow over his legacy. His high ground of morality in foreign affairs helped to win the Nobel Peace Prize but the unmitigated suffering of Syrians may be the challenge that defeats him despite his ingenuity and good heart.
The brutality of deaths at the hands of warring parties has not yet reached the Rwandan scale but disease and deprivation are starting to take their toll. The civilian casualties of war will also increase if the US and other supporters of the warring sides pile lethal weapons into Syria.
All the warring sides say they are fighting for the good of the people. But the people are dying. Meanwhile, the government that claims world leadership and has built military bases across the globe to back its assertion, helplessly watches the distress of Syrians because it can do nothing to ensure that humanitarian supplies reach the needy in time.