Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Starvation tactics against civilians are being used as a weapon of war by the Syrian government,
Amnesty International says. The rights group says at least 128 refugees
have died at the besieged Yarmouk camp in Damascus as a result.
It says thousands of people still trapped there face a "catastrophic humanitarian crisis".
Amnesty says families have been forced to forage for food in the streets - risking being
killed by snipers. There were reports of fresh fighting on the
edge of the camp earlier this week. Yarmouk camp, which is estimated to house
around 17000-20000 Palestinian and Syrian refugees, has seen some of the worst fighting
in the capital. It has been without electricity since April
2013 and most of the hospitals have closed after running out of even the most basic medical
supplies. "Syrian forces are committing war crimes by
using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war," says Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle
East director. "The harrowing accounts of families having
to resort to eating cats and dogs, and civilians attacked by snipers as they forage for food,
have become all too familiar details of the horror story that has materialised in Yarmouk."
Malnourished Mr Luther described the siege as "collective
punishment" of the civilian population and called on the Syrian government to allow humanitarian
agencies immediate access to the camp. Residents told Amnesty that they have not
eaten fruit or vegetables for months and at least 60% of people in Yarmouk are said to
be suffering from malnutrition. The camp was created as a refuge for Palestinians
fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war but it became a focus of heavy fighting in Damascus in late
2012 when opposition fighters moved in. The majority of the 180,000 Palestinians at
Yarmouk fled what had been their biggest community in Syria but around 20,000 have been trapped
inside since government forces cut it off in July last year.
Last month the UN Security Council agreed a resolution calling for all parties involved
in the conflict to immediately lift sieges, but this has so far failed to lead to an improvement
in the situation of besieged civilians. The UN made some aid deliveries but these
were halted when a truce between rebels and pro-government Palestinian militants in the
camp broke down.