Press. voanews.com.
Some
31,500 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo since Syrian government forces
captured more than one-third of the rebel-held besieged territory this week. The United Nations reports 18,000 civilians
have fled to Jibreen, an industrial zone in eastern Aleppo; 8,500 have gone to
Kurdish-inhabited Sheikh Maqsood, north of the city; and 5,000 have been
displaced inside the besieged area.
Jens
Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), said some people fleeing eastern Aleppo reportedly were
experiencing difficulties and, in some cases, putting their lives in danger.
“We have
reports that some men and boys have been detained when crossing into
government-controlled areas, and some internally displaced people have reported
that they have had their documents confiscated upon crossing into government of
Syria-controlled areas,” he said.
“We also
have reports that some people trying to move have been shot at, resulting in
death and injuries.” Laerke said rebel groups also reportedly “have sought to
prevent people from leaving eastern Aleppo.”
In New
York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized divisiveness among regional
powers and the Security Council for failing to find a political solution to end
the nearly six-year-old conflict, and he called again for a cessation of
hostilities.
"We
have been trying to make a political deal. Unfortunately, all this divisiveness
of politicians has led us to this very tragic situation," he told VOA in
an interview Friday. The U.N. Children’s Fund reports that children constitute
about 60 percent, or nearly 19,000, of those displaced by the recent fighting.
“The
staff who met with children over the last few days noted that you could see the
loss and horror in their eyes,” said Christophe Boulierac, spokesman for
UNICEF. “Let us keep in mind that every single child under the age of 5 in
Syria has known nothing but war.”
Boulierac
said there was “a race against time” to provide immediate and sustained
assistance for the children and their families. As part of this effort, he
said, UNICEF has installed 10 water storage tanks at three locations, including
the Jibreen area, “to provide access to safe water and improved sanitation
facilities.”
He told
VOA that UNICEF and partners were continuing to run a lifesaving vaccination
campaign, noting that “many children have missed out on critical routine
vaccinations, and that clearly endangers them for preventable diseases.”
Before
the conflict began more than five years ago, about 95 percent of Syria’s
children were immunized against diseases such as measles, polio and respiratory
infections. The coverage rate reportedly has since dropped to around 20
percent.
As
civilians continue to flee eastern Aleppo, the displacement problem in the
western government-controlled part of the city has been growing. The United
Nations reports 400,000 people have now been displaced in western Aleppo.
Adrian
Edwards, spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency, said temperatures in the region
were dropping quickly, so providing shelter to this large population of
destitute people was now the most urgent need.
“Many of
those who have fled the eastern districts are present in unfinished or partly
destroyed buildings. Unsanitary conditions, overcrowding — these are already
challenges in a congested city with few open spaces,” Edwards said.
He said
his agency and partners were working to rehabilitate buildings in Jibreen, in
government-controlled southwestern Aleppo and other areas where the displaced
are present. He said this was crucial, because some of the buildings “are now
at risk of collapse.”
Edwards
said that the UNHCR had largely shifted its humanitarian operation to
government-controlled western Aleppo. He said the reason was that his agency
was unable to reach the many thousands without food, water and shelter in
eastern Aleppo as temperatures drop and fighting rages.
Rebel-controlled
eastern Aleppo has been besieged for nearly five months. The Syrian government
of President Bashar al-Assad has not allowed humanitarian aid into the city
since early July, nor has it given the United Nations permission to evacuate
hundreds of seriously wounded and sick patients in urgent need of medical care.
The
Russian Federation has proposed opening four corridors so these humanitarian
operations can take place. Russia has questioned why the U.N. has not taken it
up on its proposal for safe passage in and out of the city.
In
response, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told VOA that the U.N. would discuss with
the Russian Federation “how we may use these corridors to evacuate people,
especially the sick and wounded, and use them to get medical supplies and other
relief in."
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