Madaya: people are starving to death

Under the glare of the [free] world, people are starving to death in the Syrian town of Madaya, which has been under siege for 7 months so far.

The harrowing images of emaciated bodies show the brutal and barbarian side of the Syrian regime protected by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Russian Army, and shi’a militias of Hezbollah, under the auspices of international organizations.

Although the crisis in Madaya started some months ago, and there were a lot of calls to save people’s lives and the necessity of ending this siege, the western governments and the international organizations turn a blind eye to all the brutal practices by the Syrian president and his regime.

Dozens of people have already starved to death and scores more are suffering from malnutrition. The people in Madaya have nothing to eat but leaves of olive trees; they poach dried leaves and eat it which causes poisoning incidents among them. The hunger forced them to eat even cats and dogs. There are a lot of fainting cases. Online activists satirically wrote: “A call to UN, save the cats and dogs from the barbarian people of Madaya.”

The town of Madaya is surrounded by landmines planted by the Syrian regime, the thing that makes it difficult for people to search for food in the surrounding areas. Some men’s legs were amputated as a result of these landmines. Also snipers are ambushing everyone tries to flee from the town.

The starvation in Madaya is not an isolated event. Many other areas in Ghouta, suburban Damascus, are under a similar siege by the Syrian government. The food, if it is still available within Madaya, has become cripplingly expensive. The price of a kilo of rice has skyrocketed to around $530, while baby formula has reached $300. This tragic situation in Madaya has not been seen before except in Somalia famines 20 years ago.

Yesterday, aid convoys with food and other supplies reached Madaya and two other besieged towns; Fouaa and Kefraya in northern Syria, after the agreement between UN and the Syrian government. However, Madaya is in need for repeated and sustained supplies of aids, not only one-off or exceptional shipment, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Meanwhile, Islamic and Arab countries are satisfied with condemnation for what is happening in Madaya without taking any positive step in putting pressure on the international society to save the lives of children, women, and the old in this miserable town and other areas in Syria.

By: Seham Ebied