The Telegraph
Britain and the US have said they are prepared to support air drops to save the lives of starving Syrians, as a last resort after a deadline for the Assad regime to end its siege tactics passed.
On May 17, Britain helped secure a deal for every country with influence in Syria – including Russia – to ensure the delivery of aid to one million people by June 1.
But instead of emergency supplies reaching all in need, Bashar al-Assad’s regime allowed convoys to reach only two of the 49 areas besieged by its forces. The regime also prevented one of those convoys from carrying any food.
“On the day of that deadline, the Assad regime has cynically allowed limited amounts of aid into Daraya and Mouadamiyeh but it has failed to deliver the widespread humanitarian access called for by the international community. While air drops are complex, costly and risky, they are now the last resort to relieve human suffering across many besieged areas," Mr Hammond said on Wednesday.
He called on Iran, Russia and other countries with influence over Syria to “ensure that these air operations can proceed in a safe and secure manner.”
Starving Syrian children can’t eat more empty words and hollow promises
US State department spokesman John Kirby said the US was willing to support the World Food Programme in its plans to air drop aid to besieged areas.
"The United States supports the WFP moving forward with their plan to carry out air operations to provide additional aid," he said. "The WFP has provided briefings to the United States on a series of approaches that could be taken and we have discussed those with our Russian counterparts."
He added that the US was urging Russia to allow aid in by ground delivery and air drops if necessary.
"We urge and expect Russia to use its influence with the regime to fulfil commitments already made for continued ground delivery of aid, and if needed, supporting international air operations going forward," he said.
Britain is expected to call an emergency Security Council meeting later this week in an attempt to honour that promise.
Hilary Benn, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, earlier said that Britain had a “responsibility to deliver” the air drops.
"The Foreign Secretary claimed the credit for securing this promise to deliver aid from the air, so he now has a responsibility to deliver it,” he said. “Failure to act will put his and the Government's credibility on the line."
Mr Assad’s regime allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to send convoys to only two areas besieged by its forces: Daraya and Mouadamiyeh. Both are in the suburbs of Damascus and only a few miles from United Nations warehouses filled with food.
In Daraya, this was the first delivery of aid since November 2012. The convoy was allowed to carry medical supplies, but the regime prevented it from bringing any food.
Families in Daraya are surviving on soup made from boiled spices and many children have never seen fruit. “People we have spoken to in Daraya tell us of children reduced to skin and bones, too weak and hungry to stand up," said Sonia Khush, the head of Save the Children in Syria.
An activist in Daraya who gave his name as Ahmad described the regime's siege as a "crime", adding: "We are just normal people - we have the right to live.”
During an assessment visit to Daraya in April, UN officials found that children rarely played outside for fear of the regime’s barrel bombs. Many had damaged vision or hearing, due to the lack of light in their basement refuges and the proximity of explosions.
A starving child in Moadamiyeh, an area besieged by Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria. CREDIT: DR MUHANNAD AL-KHATEEB
In Mouadamiyeh, the aid convoy was the first since July 2014 – and the regime did allow it to carry food. A local doctor told The Telegraph that the afternoon delivery had brought “perhaps enough relief for a month”.
Photographs from his field hospital showed severely malnourished children, their bellies extended and eyes unfocused. The doctor said that one child had starved to death a month earlier.
"One in three children here have malnutrition - many have lost sixty per cent of their body weight,” said Muhannad al-Khateeb, another doctor in Mouadamiyeh. “I fear these children could die at any moment.”
No convoy was allowed to enter Madaya, another area besieged by the regime. Activists said that a girl had died of malnutrition on Wednesday morning.