400,000 Syrians in 15 besieged locations at risk of starvation: UN expert

An UN human rights expert on Tuesday warned that some 400,000 people living in 15 besieged locations throughout Syria are trapped in desperate circumstances and in urgent need of emergency assistance.

"With many families unable to move, and food becoming scarce, expensive, and risky to access, starvation and hunger is now a grave threat that affects over 4 million Syrians living in hard to reach areas," Hilal Elver, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, noted.

According to her, without access to food, the besieged communities are enduring immense suffering with reports suggesting that in the town of Madaya alone 23 people, including children, have starved to death since December, while many others are suffering from acute malnutrition.

She stressed that an immediate and unconditional humanitarian pause in hostilities must be put in place to allow humanitarian aid and food to reach everyone in Syria.

"As the brutal conflict in Syria continues, the plight of those already living in constant fear of deadly and indiscriminate bombardment is now compounded by the threat of starvation, with parties on all sides of the conflict continuing to entirely or heavily restrict access to essential supplies," she said.

She noted that "the deliberate starvation of civilians in both international and internal armed conflict as a tactic of war constitutes a war crime, and could also amount to a crime against humanity if it can be shown that denial of food is a deliberate and systematic tactic to cause civilian suffering."

She welcomed the decision to allow humanitarian access to the towns of Madaya, Foah and Kefraya on Jan. 11 and 14, but cautioned that "in order to ensure a long term solution, regular unhampered access must be granted to allow aid agencies to reach those in need in all hard-to-reach and besieged areas." Endit