Syria's Darayya needs air drops to save its people from starvation

The Syrian regime has isolated Darayya, a town of 8,000 people, for more than three years.

The UN World Food Programme has reported a desperate need for food, and has evidence that people are reduced to eating grass.

Darayya is suffering horribly but its people continue to emerge from the basements, where most now have to live, bravely taking to the streets to demand that the siege be lifted. In an appeal to the world last week, the women of the town wrote: “There is no food at all in Darayya … We have resorted to cooking soups made purely of spices to stave off hunger … There is no baby milk and no breast milk because of malnutrition … There are no cleaning supplies for us to ensure hygiene and keep disease away.”

In nearly 1,200 days of siege, their suffering has been ignored by the world.

No international aid has been allowed into Darayya since 2012. The local council has evidence of the regime’s attacks when, in January alone, the town was hit by 765 barrel bombs, 1,400 mortar and tank shells, nine airstrikes and 124 surface-to-surface missiles. Civilian areas have been reduced to ruins.

Clearly more has to be done to help and support the suffering women, children and men of Darayya. They are courageously making urgent demands for the siege to end, and for the UN and all humanitarian and relief organisations to take immediate action.

The siege must be lifted and roads opened to allow delivery of basics, from food and medicines to drinking water.

Darayya is only 10km from the Four Seasons hotel, where UN staff have been based. So far, the Syrian regime has denied them permission to provide aid to the town because of security concerns.