Syrian refugees, fleeing the violence in their country, wait to cross the border into the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on 21 August 21, 2013. (Photo credit: REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani)
A new report released by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has revealed that at least 14.6 million people in Syria are in dire need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the brutal US-backed war.
Out of that figure, six and a half million are children under the age of 17.
“Suffering in Syria is at its highest level since the crisis began,” the UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian conflict, Mark Cutts, said via Twitter on 23 February.
Suffering in #Syria is at its highest level since the crisis began, with 14.6 million people in need of aid.
The @UN and its partners are reaching 7 million people every month, but more support is required. See the #Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview 2022 https://t.co/IKp7JqBVge pic.twitter.com/2OctPfjVyg
— Mark Cutts (@MarkCutts) February 23, 2022
The report by the UN agency shows that 76 percent of Syrian households are unable to meet their most basic needs, mainly as a result of Western sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a sharp fall in the value of the Syrian currency.
On top of this, nearly 40 percent of those in need of urgent humanitarian assistance are people who have been internally displaced due to the 11-year war, with the largest concentration being in the governorates of Idlib and Aleppo, as well as in rural Damascus.
The report estimates that 553,000 children are chronically malnourished and 245,000 are acutely malnourished. On top of this, more than 50 percent of healthcare workers are estimated to have fled the country.
According to the OCHA the situation has been exacerbated by “widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, explosive ordnance contamination and the largest number of internally displaced people in the world.”
Since 2011 Syria has been mired in a brutal conflict, as western-backed armed groups have sought to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, US troops illegally stationed in the country’s northeast have continuously plundered the country’s natural resources.