Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment has been made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Madaya and (b) other Syrian cities under attack by armed forces of the government of President Assad.
Mr Desmond Swayne
We are seriously concerned about the acute humanitarian situation in Madaya, Rural Damascus. Madaya has been surrounded by regime and allied forces since July 2015, leading to sharply deteriorating conditions for an estimated 40,000 people, most of whom are women and children. Around 20,000 residents currently face life-threatening deprivation of the basics for survival. Prior to 11 January 2016, humanitarian assistance was last delivered on 18 October, as part of a joint UN/ Syrian Arab Red Crescent/ICRC convoy, that provided assistance to Madaya, Zabadani, Foah and Kefraya under the terms of a ceasefire agreement.
The UK is deeply concerned that nearly 400,000 people live in besieged areas and roughly 4.5 million in hard-to-reach areas in Syria. Due to constrained humanitarian access, we are unable to provide a systematic and updated picture of humanitarian needs across besieged and hard-to-reach areas. The appalling numbers of people living in besieged areas is indicative of the continued flouting of International Humanitarian Law and disregard for civilian lives by the regime, Daesh and armed groups inside Syria.
The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have pledged over £1.1 billion, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. We have provided support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria, including Madaya. We are working to bring about an inclusive political solution to end the conflict in Syria through our engagement in the International Syria Support Group, with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, and with the Syrian Opposition.
In February 2016, the UK will invite world leaders to London for a Conference to support immediate needs and identify longer-term solutions to address the needs of those affected by the crisis.
