UN envoy 'regrets' failure to evacuate besieged Syrians

Geneva, (IINA) - UN Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday that the Bashar al-Assad regime has not allowed medical evacuations of up to 500 people from several besieged towns, Anadolu Agency reported.
In remarks made to the media following a UN task force meeting on humanitarian access, the UN envoy said: "I cannot deny everyone in the meeting was disappointed, and many of them are frustrated by the lack of new convoys reaching some besieged towns”.
"We have not been able to reach Douma, Daraya, East Harasta … There was a possibility of medical evacuation up to 500 people in four towns. That has not happened and we regret it".
Head of the UN’s humanitarian efforts in Syria Jan Egeland said last week that up to 500 sick and wounded people and their families would be evacuated from the towns of Madaya, Zabadani, Foua, and Kufreya.
Noting World Food Program’s (WFP) success in making three airdrops in Deir ez-Zor, de Mistura said: "The next airdrops will include not only food items but also medical items".
UN envoy said he was also concerned about not getting permission from the Syrian regime to deliver surgical items in Syria, which could have also helped children.
On Sunday, food packages from the World Food Programme were parachuted to the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, where 200,000 civilians have been besieged by ISIS forces since March 2014.
"Vaccinations are expected to start on 24th of April," de Mistura said. He said the possibility of airdrops to Daraya was also discussed in the UN meeting.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
AG/IINA

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