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Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Syria: Activists accuse Red Cross of ignoring opposition-controlled areas

Syria: Activists accuse Red Cross of ignoring opposition-controlled areas
Humanitarian situation in Homs neighborhood is dire, according to Syrian
National Coalition member
Nazeer Rida Asharq Al-Awsat Tuesday, 18 Nov, 2014
http://www.aawsat.net/2014/11/article55338670

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Several Syrian opposition activists in Damascus have
accused the International Red Cross of ignoring the plight of Syrians in
opposition-held areas while delivering aid to neighborhoods controlled by
the Syrian regime.

Activists in the Barzeh neighborhood in northern Damascus tweeted that three
recent humanitarian operations by the Red Cross in the neighborhood had
focused exclusively on an area known for being loyal to Syrian President
Bashar Al-Assad.

The activists described the area on their Twitter accounts as a “storehouse”
for the regime’s notorious shabiha militias, and pointed to a photograph
posted on the International Red Cross’s official Facebook page showing a
picture of the organization’s president, Peter Maurer, personally delivering
aid to people in the area, with a picture of Assad behind him on a wall.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Simon Schorno, spokesman for the Red Cross in
Syria, denied the allegations, insisting that the organization’s motives
were entirely humanitarian and were part of its overall efforts in Syria to
provide humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, an opposition source in the Rif Dimashq suburb just outside
Damascus made similar accusations toward other international NGOs currently
working in the country.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Ghouta area just east of Damascus
was suffering from an “almost total lack” of humanitarian aid from NGOs, and
that when these organizations did attempt to get aid in, it was “completely
blocked” by Syrian government forces patrolling the entry points to the
area.

Because of the lack of assistance in the area, the source said, prices of
ordinary food products and provisions were rising to “insane levels.”

Meanwhile, sources in the eastern city of Homs—previously an opposition
stronghold but now almost completely controlled by government forces—told a
similar story.

In Al-Wa’ar, the only part of the city still under the control of the
opposition, the humanitarian situation is dire, according to Abdul Ilah
Fahad, a member of the main opposition bloc, the Syrian National Coalition.

Fahad told Asharq Al-Awsat that the area had suffered a 90-day embargo by
government forces, who had only allowed vegetables in, he said that
residents had to purchase the produce at “astronomical” prices.

The council member said the situation had improved last week following the
arrival of 28 vehicles carrying humanitarian aid, though he added that the
aid was still “not enough” to supply the area’s 190,000 residents.

Fahad said the arrival of the aid came following “direct contact we [the
Coalition] made with the office of the UN secretary-general [Ban Ki-moon] .
. . asking for [his] intervention,” and the brokering of an agreement with
the Syrian government to allow the aid to enter the area during a six-day
ceasefire.

He added that the ceasefire was still in effect and that bombardment of the
area by government forces had indeed abated, though not entirely stopped.

Al-Wa’ar was among the areas which the Syrian government agreed to allow aid
into as part of the Geneva II accords. The government did adhere to the
agreement for two months, but following its retaking of the Old City in
Homs—one of the last opposition strongholds in the city—aid was prevented
from reaching the area, which was then totally surrounded by government
forces.

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