U.N. Says Syria Agrees to Joint Humanitarian Assessment Mission
U.N. humanitarian aid chief Valerie Amos said on Friday that Syria had agreed to allow a preliminary assessment of the relief needs in areas hard hit by the year-old conflict.
Amos, who has toured the battered city of Homs and refugee camps in Turkey this week, also said Damascus must allow aid groups "unhindered access to evacuate the wounded and deliver desperately needed supplies".
The regime of President Bashar al-Assad has cracked down on protesters and rebel fighters over the past year in a brutal military campaign that, according to the opposition, has claimed nearly 8,500 lives.
Amos, the U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in Ankara that "we have agreed on a joint preliminary humanitarian assessment mission to areas where people urgently need assistance".
She said a proposal had been submitted to the Syrian government for delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid, and that she had asked for an urgent consideration of the matter.
Currently, no U.N. aid agencies are allowed into Syria, and information is scarce on the details of the civilians' needs.
In Geneva, a U.N. spokeswoman said that 1.5 million people might be in need of food aid in Syria, according to latest available data, but that the real number would need to be evaluated from inside the country.
"We have an estimated figure of 1.5 million people potentially in need of food assistance," the spokeswoman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Elisabeth Byrs, told a press briefing.
On Wednesday, Amos visited the battered Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr, which was left "totally destroyed" after the former rebel stronghold was bombarded for a month and then stormed by Syrian troops on March 1.
"There were hardly any people left there," Amos said.
Amos saluted three of Syria's neighboring countries for allowing in refugees who continue to escape amid the escalating violence.
"I would like to thank all three countries for continuing to keep their borders open for Syrians who are crossing because they are fleeing conflict," said Amos, referring to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
Following the Homs crackdown, more Syrians have started crossing into Turkey, fearing a similar crackdown in their towns closer to the border.
Turkey's border province of Hatay now houses more than 12,000 Syrians, according to a Turkish official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Source: Agence France Presse
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