2018 worst year for Syria humanitarian situation: UN
The UN Humanitarian coordinator for Syria has warned that the country is currently experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis since a foreign-backed crisis erupted in the country seven years ago.
“We see in 2018 the humanitarian situation inside Syria being the worst we have seen since the war started: a very dramatic deterioration, massive displacement, disrespect of protection of civilians and people’s lives still being turned upside down,” Panos Moumtzis said in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday.
Moumtzis noted that Syria was the worst place in modern history in terms of attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, adding that 70 percent of all such attacks worldwide occur in the Arab country.
According to UN data, 89 healthcare workers lost their lives in 92 attacks on healthcare facilities between January 1 and May 4, compared with 73 killed in 112 attacks in the whole of 2017.
Most of the attacks on healthcare facilities and workers in 2018 took place in Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of the capital Damascus and Idlib.
The UN humanitarian coordinator expressed concern over poor aid delivery in Syria, saying only seven percent of the requests for aid delivery were granted permission in the first four months of 2018.
