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         Report Paints Bleak Picture of Life in Besieged Areas of Syria

   by Margaret Besheer

   A new report by the charity Save the Children describes tremendous
   suffering in areas of Syria under siege mainly by the government, but
   also by some opposition and terrorist groups.

   At least a half million people live in areas classified by the United
   Nations as besieged -- and about a half of them are children.

   Food and medicines are in desperately short supply. Baby formula has
   been removed from aid convoys. For many, even bread has become a
   luxury.

   A Syrian aid worker, who could not be identified for safety reasons,
   told reporters during a briefing on the report that in Damascus, a
   dozen of the traditional round loaves of bread cost about 100 Syrian
   pounds -- or just under half a U.S. dollar. But 15 minutes away, in a
   hard-to-reach area, the price would be 10 times that -- if the bread is
   even available. The aid worker also reported that civilians are allowed
   only one bag of a dozen loaves each time they pass the checkpoint.

   "So it is to that extent that food and supplies have been monitored,"
   the aid worker said. "It's not about weapons or phones or electronic
   devices -- which are OK to be blocked from certain areas -- it's about
   how many potatoes or tomatoes."

   Children under siege

   This past winter, the aid worker said, many children took to scavenging
   through bombed-out buildings for fuel sources. "They wait till the
   aircraft hit the area and then the building is destroyed and there are
   the leftovers of the furniture, because they wanted to use the wood in
   heating and cooking," the aid worker said.

   Save the Children is calling for a universal lifting of sieges across
   Syria. The charity is also calling on parties to comply with their
   international legal obligations not to target civilians, schools,
   hospitals and other noncombatant facilities.

   Culture of war

   The report documents testimony from dozens of parents, children,
   teachers, medical workers and humanitarians working in besieged areas.

   Children have died from preventable diseases because they lacked
   medicine and vaccines. They also suffer vitamin and mineral
   deficiencies. One doctor working in Eastern Ghouta told Save the
   Children that in addition to malnutrition, children there are suffering
   from lung ailments and infections from the smoke from explosions.

   More than 4,000 schools have been attacked during the conflict. One in
   five Syrian teachers has been killed or displaced. More than 2 million
   children are out of school. Where schools are functioning in besieged
   areas, parents are often too afraid to send their children in case the
   schools are bombed.

   The nearly five-year-old conflict is also taking a psychological toll
   on Syria's youth. Parents reported that their children live in constant
   fear of bombings; many are becoming increasingly aggressive, while
   others are withdrawn and depressed. Some have recurrent nightmares;
   others have developed speech impediments.

   "There is a real culture of war that these children are growing up in,"
   said Sonia Khush, Save the Children's Regional Syria director. "It is
   hard to estimate what long-term impact this is going to have on them."
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/report-bleak-picture-life-in-besieged
   -areas-syria/3226870.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/report-bleak-picture-life-in-besieged-areas-syria/3226870.html